連邦控訴裁判所第３巡回法廷が
再審問を拒否
再審請求へ残された道が狭まる
ペンシルベニア州の無実の黒人死刑囚、ラジオ・ジャーナリストのムミア・アブ ＝ジャマールと弁護団による連邦控訴裁判所（第３巡回裁判所）に対する異議申 し立てが棄却された模様です。
ムミアは1981年12月にフィラデルフィアでおきた白人警官射殺事件で逮捕され、 一貫して無実を訴え続けていますが、有罪 死刑判決が確定。
1995年に始まった再審請求が今日まで州と連邦の各級裁判所で継続しています。 再審請求の過程で、警察による証拠ねつ造、検察による証人脅迫・証人隠しなど が次々に暴かれてきました。
今年4月19日、連邦控訴裁判所（第３巡回裁判所）は再審請求を棄却し、連邦地 裁の決定を追認しました。それによれば、連邦裁判所は、度重なる弁護側の請求 にもかかわらず、事実調べをいっさい行わず、原審の事実認定を前提とした上で、 量刑についてだけ陪審裁判をやり直し、死刑か終身刑かを決定するというもので す。弁護側はこの決定に異議を申し立て、連邦控訴裁判所の全判事が出席する法 廷での再審問を要求していました。
以下の最新ニュース（ムミアの主任弁護人、ロバート・ブライアンからの連絡） によれば、同裁判所はこの請求を棄却。
弁護側に残された方策がさらに狭まりました。連邦最高裁に舞台を移すことにな りそうです。
アメリカの死刑制度における人種問題と政治問題、批判的ジャーナリズムに対す る弾圧など種々の問題を内包するこの事件の再審要求運動はアメリカ、ヨーロッ パを中心に世界的な広がりをもっていますが、きわめて厳しい状況となっている と言わざるを得ません。
続報が入り次第、またお知らせします。
以下、英文のままですが、ニューヨーク市フリームミア連合経由で届いた、ロバート・ブライアンからのメッセージを転送します。 From: "mumianyc"
To: MumiaNYC@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:48:14 -0000
Subject: [MumiaNYC] Third Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects En Banc Hearing for Mumia
Dear Friends,
We are sending you this legal update from Mumia's attorney, Robert Bryan, knowing full well how disturbing this news is. We will be sending you further analysis, and plans for our continued work very shortly, and hope to hear your feedback very soon. We already have a Town Hall Meeting planned for August 9th in Philadelphia. More on that later. But, mainly, we did not want to delay your getting this news and hearing it for the first time from the mainstream media. Vicious injustice continues to dominate every branch of this government and society, the courts being a prime example, and the attacks on Black revolutionaries never cease. That is why we fight back and RESIST!
a luta continua,
Suzanne Ross, for the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
Legal Update
Date: July 22, 2008
From: Robert R. Bryan, lead counsel
Subject: Federal ruling regarding Mumia Abu-Jamal, death row, Pennsylvania [please circulate]
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia Today our Petition for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc, submitted on behalf of my client, Mumia Abu-Jamal, was denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Simply put, we did not receive the needed majority vote from the nine sitting judges; at least five votes for a rehearing were necessary. However, Justice Thomas L. Ambro continues to urge the granting of relief on the issue of racism in jury selection. That position, as detailed in his brilliant dissenting opinion of March 27, 2008, will continue to serve as a beacon of hope as we press on for a new trial and Mumia's freedom. Judge Ambro said that the "core guarantee of equal protection, ensuring citizens that their State will not discriminate on account of race, would be meaningless were we to approve the exclusion of jurors on the basis of . . . race. . . . I respectfully dissent." A copy of today's decision is attached.
Reaction Mumia and I had a legal conference this afternoon. He, as I, was stunned by the federal court's refusal to grant relief since it flies in the face of established legal precedent in both the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. I am furious because racism continues to raise its ugly head in this country, and should have no place in our legal system. The indisputable facts are that the prosecutor engaged in racism in selecting the jury in this case, and that bigotry lingers today in Philadelphia. It would be naive not to realize that this case continues to reek of politics and injustice.
U.S. Supreme Court We will be seeking relief in the Supreme Court. The Petition for Writ of Certiorari will be filed by October 20, 2008, unless there is an extension. The racism issue will be presented, along with the fact that the prosecutor made misrepresentations to the jury in order to obtain a murder conviction against Mumia.
Conclusion My goal remains a complete reversal of the conviction, even though the federal court has already granted a new jury trial on the question of the death penalty. We will not rest until Mumia is free.
Yours very truly,
Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123-4117
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
[RobertRBryan@aol.com]
以下が第３巡回法廷の決定文ですが、Ambroという判事が、弁護側の要求する全判事出席による再審問を支持しています。
*As to panel rehearing only.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
Nos. 01-9014 & 02-9001
MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, a/k/a WESLEY COOK
Mumia Abu-Jamal, Appellant at No 02-9001
v. MARTIN HORN, PENNSYLVANIA DIRECTOR OF CORRECTIONS; CONNER BLAINE, SUPERINTENDENT, SCI GREENE; DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR PHILADELPHIA COUNTY; THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA,
Appellants at No. 01-9014 (D.C. Civ. No. 99-cv-5089) SUR PETITION FOR REHEARING
Present: SCIRICA, Chief Judge,
SLOVITER, BARRY, AMBRO, FUENTES, SMITH, CHAGARES, JORDAN, HARDIMAN and COWEN*, Circuit Judges.
The petition for rehearing filed by appellee/cross-appellant Mumia Abu-Jamal in the above-entitled case having been submitted to the judges who participated in the decision of this Court and to all the other available circuit judges of the circuit in regular
2
active service, and no judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing, and a majority of the circuit judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petition for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc, is denied. Judge Ambro would grant rehearing en banc.
BY THE COURT, /s/ Anthony J. Scirica Chief Judge
Dated: July 22, 2008
CMD/cc: Robert R. Bryan, Esq.
Judith L. Ritter, Esq.
Hugh J. Burns, Jr., Esq.
Ronald Eisenberg, Esq.
Christina Swarns, Esq.
Jill Elijah, Esq.
--Mumia is Innocent! Stop the Frame Up! Free Mumia!-- Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC P.O. Box 16, College Station, NY, NY 10030 212-330-8029, www.FreeMumia.com, info@FreeMumia.com --------------------- Original Message Ends --------------------