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SUPREME COURT REJECTS NEW ABU-JAMAL TRIAL: Having escaped Death Row, lawyer vows to fight life sentence before new jury.
*The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear arguments for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the ex-Black Panther accused of killing a police officer.
Abu-Jamal's death sentence was overturned in March by a federal court in Philadelphia, which found that the jury in the case had been incorrectly instructed. The judges voted two-to-one to uphold his conviction, however.
AFP reports that Abu-Jamal's lawyer, Robert Bryan, has already said he will seek to bring a second Supreme Court appeal -- on the grounds of racism -- for the 54-year-old former radio journalist accused of the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner.
As part of his defense, Abu-Jamal has argued he was denied a fair trial in 1982 because the prosecution barred 10 qualified African-Americans from sitting on the jury, which in the end consisted of 10 whites and two blacks. The Philadelphia appeals court had rejected his arguments on lack of evidence of any racist intent on the part of the prosecution.
Bryan has said he will not rest until he wins freedom for his client, who has become an icon for anti-capital punishment campaigners.
"Even though the federal court granted a new trial on the question of the death penalty, we want a complete reversal of the conviction," Bryan said in July.
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