Peter
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MUMIA'S SITUATION FOLLOWING THE NEW DEATH WARRANT
AND NEW FILING IN THE FEDERAL COURT
____________________________________________________________________
By C. Clark Kissinger, cck1@earthlink.net
What follows is a short summary of Mumia's current legal situation for
activists and speakers working for Mumia. It explains why there must be a
major focus at this time on demanding that the federal district court in
Philadelphia grant a hearing on Mumia's new petition.
Is Mumia going to be executed on December 2?
No, but his life is in great danger. With the filing on October 15 of a
petition in the federal district court for a new trial for Mumia, the
federal judge is expected to soon grant a stay of execution. A stay, of
course, is only a postponement to allow the federal judge to consider the
new petition. Mumia remains under order of death, and the stay will be
lifted after the federal district court finishes considering the case.
Governor Ridge signed this death warrant knowing full well that Mumia
would
be filing for a new trial in a matter of days, and the death warrant would
be stayed. This is the same thing he did in 1995 when he signed a death
warrant just before Mumia filed a petition for a new trial in the state
courts. It is a political step designed to mislead people and pressure the
courts.
What is the significance of Mumia's new petition?
This is a most critical moment in the whole appeals process. A federal
district judge in Philadelphia is being asked to hold a hearing on Mumia's
petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
A motion for habeas corpus (Latin for "let's have the body") comes from
English common law, where it was an appeal to a court to review whether
the
King's detention of somebody was legal. In granting the motion, the court
told the King's sheriff to "bring the body" into court and justify why you
are holding him. This practice developed into a procedure in the U.S. by
which federal courts are asked to review criminal convictions by state
courts. What it means in practice is that state governments do not have an
absolute right to take away a person's freedom or life.
So why would a hearing be so important? Up to this point, all hearings
have
been in the Pennsylvania state court system and presided over by Judge
Sabo. Sabo routinely denied motions for discovery and denied subpoenas for
key witnesses sought by the defense. Sabo's actions were then approved by
the Pennsylvania Supreme, most of whose justices are endorsed by the
Fraternal Order of Police.
Thus a hearing in federal district court be Mumia FIRST real opportunity
to
have the evidence heard and reviewed. It will also be Mumia's LAST
opportunity to present the evidence and witnesses denied by the
Pennsylvania court system. After the federal district court, all higher
federal appeals courts will only review transcripts -- they will not hear
any new evidence.
What is the effect of the new federal laws on death penalty appeals?
The danger is this: the federal district judge who gets this case is not
required to grant Mumia a hearing. He could simply read the Pennsylvania
trial transcripts and issue a ruling. In fact, the 1996 Effective Death
Penalty Act (EDPA) is specifically designed to discourage federal courts
from reviewing and overturning death sentences handed down in the state
courts. This is why public action for Mumia is so important. The
government
has to hear a loud popular demand for a hearing, so the evidence can be
heard that would justify a new trial for Mumia.
What the Effective Death Penalty Act attempts to do is to repeal the
federal right of habeas corpus. Under the signboard of "federalism," both
this new law and recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court are attempting
to
make decisions by state courts final, and far less subject to federal
review. "Federalism" is just a new name for the old doctrine of "states
rights" that attempted to prevent any federal review of white supremacist
courts in the South. Such federal review was a major gain of the Civil
Rights Movement, which the government is now seeking to reverse. This has
to be called out and exposed.
What is the effect of the Supreme Court turning down Mumia's appeal on
October 4?
Earlier this year, Mumia's legal team also petitioned the U.S. Supreme
Court for a "writ of certiorari." This is a request to the Supreme Court
to
look at the case before it works its way up through the normal habeas
corpus process. Sometimes the Supreme Court will do this, when an
important
legal question is presented. In Mumia's case, the Supreme Court was asked
to consider whether it was constitutional to deny him the right to act as
his own attorney and to bar him from the court room when he protested this
denial. In denying this petition, the Supreme Court was saying that it
would not consider these issues now -- the case will have to go through
the
federal district court and the circuit court of appeals first. The U.S.
Supreme Court did NOT rule against Mumia on merit of the issues he raised.
What happens if the federal district judge denies Mumia a new trial
(denies
habeas corpus)?
If the judge at the federal district court level rules against him, Mumia
will then appeal to the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. But if the
judge rules in favor of Mumia, the state of Pennsylvania is sure to appeal
to the 3rd Circuit Court. So there will be two rounds of federal court
action in Philadelphia over the next year (the district court and the
circuit court of appeals).
In general, action in the federal courts will go much faster than it did
in
the state courts. Thus we are now entering the final phase of the battle
to
save Mumia's life. This is why we must proceed with a greater sense of
urgency and determination.