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Most readers of these pages know that Mumia Abu-Jamal is anticipating a hearing in the federal district court in the next few months. Most of you also know that this hearing is absolutely critical in Mumia?s quest for justice, because it would present for the court record evidence of the extreme manipulation that characterized his 1982 trial. If this evidence is not admitted into the record now, it is unlikely that it will be in future appeals – say at the Appellate or Supreme Court level – leaving higher courts to review Mumia?s case based solely on the biased and abridged court record developed by Judge Sabo.

Mumia has asked everyone who is following his case to read an amicus brief filed by the Chicana/Chicano Studies Foundation. It is one of a set of four such briefs filed by friends of the court, a routine procedure, especially in high-level cases, but somewhat less common at the district court level. Judge Yohn has recently formally denied all briefs on the basis that they are "unhelpful and unnecessary." His ostensible rationale is that Mumia is already adequately represented, and that all of the points raised in the amicus briefs can be handled by his personal counsel.

According to legal analyst Clark Kissinger of Refuse and Resist, Judge Yohn?s denial of these briefs may not really represent a legal setback, depending on how open Yohn is to an evidentiary hearing and other factors. However, Mumia has asked us all to read this particular brief because it puts a sure and steady finger on the specific tactics used by Judge Sabo, public defender Anthony Jackson, and the prosecutor to short-circuit his right to a fair trial. It notes that Anthony Jackson openly admitted to the Judge and prosecutor that he had no defense for Mumia that contrary to subsequent statements, it was not out of incompetence, lack of funding, or any other sound reason that Jackson made no effort to examine witnesses for the defense, or otherwise develop an argument for Mumia. Rather, it notes that Jackson openly admitted to them that his strategy was to "deliver up" his client – to summarily dispense with his responsibilities as an advocate and to hand him over to the prosecution, most likely as a political favor.

The brief also spells out that when Judge Sabo denied Mumia of his right to represent himself, that he did so on the basis of an apocryphal ruling from Justice McDermott of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. But interestingly enough, there is no written record of such a ruling on the Supreme Court docket. And in a chilling aside, Jackson later admits to Sabo that McDermott had never actually ruled on Mumia?s right to self-defense – that this statement in turn was apparently an outright fiction intended to quash Mumia?s rights and facilitate a conviction. A copy of the brief can be found at www.refuseandresist.org.

Mumia said in his trial: "Freedom will free me." And the citizens' movement that is building around his support effort, and a new national politics of justice, accountability, mutual empowerment and compassion, has indeed unleashed a force of truth that can free us all.

Contact the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, D.C. Chapter (202) 973-2177

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