Last-Ditch Efforts For Abu-Jamal

About 1,000 protesters converged on downtown Friday in support of death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, as his lawyers pursued a last-ditch state appeal.

In a tense hearing lasting about 30 minutes, Judge Pamela Dembe refused a request by Abu-Jamal's attorneys to schedule oral arguments, and directed lawyers for both sides to file briefs on whether she should have jurisdiction over the petition for a new trial.

Abu-Jamal remained in a western Pennsylvania prison, barred from attending the conference in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court by an official who said there was no room for him in the city's crowded jails.

"The right to be present in the courtroom has been denied through no fault of my own," he said in a statement read by one of his attorneys.

Assistant District Attorney Hugh Burns said defendants are almost never present for such "status hearings," however. Earlier this week, Dembe had turned down a request to find the jail official in contempt of court.

Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther and radio journalist, was sentenced to death for the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

His jailhouse writings have attracted worldwide attention and support from many celebrities, death-penalty opponents and foreign politicians. But Faulkner's relatives and police organizations are equally vehement in arguing that he is guilty.

Police Commissioner John Timoney estimated the crowd of protesters at 1,000.

Demonstrators held signs and banners as they gathered in an area behind metal barricades just outside the Criminal Justice Center, then blocked traffic as they marched by the district attorney's office chanting, "No justice, no peace."

Taking the opposite viewpoint, construction workers hung signs on scaffolding across the street on City Hall, including one reading "Fry Mumia."

"He killed a cop," said construction worker Danny Brown. "Why should they free him?"

Faulkner's widow, Maureen, watched the protest through the DA's window.

"I think today was a pathetic attempt to delay the appeal process," she said. "It's a disgrace that we have to go through this emotional turmoil."

Abu-Jamal lost his first round of state appeals, but his latest petition argues that the defense has new evidence to clear him, including a confession by a man named Arnold Beverly.

Beverly claimed he was hired by the mob to kill Faulkner because the 25-year-old officer had interfered with mob payoffs to police. Last month a federal judge refused to order Beverly to testify on Abu-Jamal's behalf.

The attorneys for Abu-Jamal were making their first appearance in the case. He fired his previous attorneys in May after one published a book about the case.

Among those attending the hearing were the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

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