Mumia Abu Jamal Legal Update

This is an update on the case of my client, Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been on Pennsylvania’s death row for over a quarter of a century.

We continue to await the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Pennsylvania. I am in contact with the court, and will alert everyone immediately upon the issuance of a ruling. Oral argument was on May 17, 2007, thus people ask why the court is taking so long. This is a highly complex case involving issues of great constitutional significance and a voluminous amount of material. In three decades of successfully defending people in numerous murder cases involving the death penalty, I have not seen one more complicated.

It is impossible to know how the federal court will rule, but the briefing and arguments could not have gone better even though there have been problems due to mistakes by prior counsel. If the federal court follows the mandate of the U.S. Constitution, the decision should be favorable.

However, Mumia remains in jeopardy because courts are so unpredictable.


Robert Bryan
San Francisco CA
Robert Bryan is lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal.