BY PETER SEIDMAN

PHILADELPHIA - On September 10, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered that a defense appeal for a hearing on new testimony pointing to the innocence of Mumia Abu-Jamal should be decided by the same Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge who presided over the original frame-up trial in the case. Abu-Jamal is a Black activist who was convicted in 1982 of the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner. His case has become a focal point of opposition to the death penalty.

The May 22 defense appeal asked the state Supreme Court to order a hearing on new testimony by Veronica Jones. The defense also asked the court not to assign Albert Sabo, the original Common Pleas Court judge in the case, to rule on this appeal. Sabo has been widely condemned, including in editorials by the Philadelphia Inquirer, for showing extreme bias against Abu- Jamal.

Jones was a key witness at the original trial. She now says that days before she took the stand, Philadelphia police detectives visited her in jail, where she was facing major felony armed robbery charges. The cops, according to Jones, "told me that if I would testify against Jamal and identify Jamal as the shooter I wouldn't have to worry about my pending felony charges." Bowing to this pressure, Jones, called as a defense witness, changed her testimony. Originally she had told investigators that she had seen two men flee the scene immediately after the shooting of Faulkner. But on the stand, she denied her earlier account, seriously undermining the defense.

Defense attorneys plan to challenge the Supreme Court's decision to deny their motion for a change of judge. They also plan to demand a reopening of last year's post conviction relief hearing based on the issues of judicial and police misconduct raised by Jones' new testimony.  
 
 
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