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Court grants new sentencing for Mumia Abu-Jamal
WPVI-TV Philadelphia
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
Updated at 11:02 AM today
PHILADELPHIA - April 26, 2011 (WPVI) -- A U.S. appeals court is awarding death-row activist Mumia Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing in the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer.
Tuesday's ruling is the latest in the former Black Panther's long-running legal saga.
The 58-year-old Mumia's first-degree murder conviction stands in the fatal shooting of Officer Daniel Faulkner.
But the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is upholding its earlier ruling that the death-penalty instructions to the jury were unclear at Mumia's 1982 trial.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year ordered the court to review that decision.
The three-judge panel is standing by its decision after hearing a new round of legal arguments.
Philadelphia DA responds
In a statement released shortly after the ruling was announced, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said his office is thoroughly reviewing the decision.
"We continue to maintain that granting this new sentencing hearing is contrary to clearly established precedent of the United States Supreme Court, and we are now considering whether to seek further review of today's decision in the Supreme Court," Williams is quoted as saying in the statement.
Williams said he would have more to say after his office has had a chance to more thoroughly examine today's decision.
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