Updated (December 28, 2018): There may be some light a the end of the tunnel for Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case after Judge Leon Tucker recently granted the imprisoned former Black Panther a partial appeal.

KYW News Radio reported the judge concluded Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille, who was the district attorney during Abu-Jamal appeals case at the lower-court level, should have recused himself from the case to ensure neutrality.

"Judge Tucker recognized the unconstitutional bias involved with Justice Castille's sitting on the prior post-conviction appeals, and the need for a new appeal untainted by such bias,” Judith L. Ritter, Abu-Jamal's defense attorney, said in a statement shared with KYW. “This was a straightforward application of federal and Pennsylvania law requiring cases to be decided by judges whose impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned."

According to a 36-page document written by Tucker and shared via Twitter by reporter Kristen Johanson, the judge found no evidence Castille was biased in his previous denial decisions. Tucker wrote Castille's support for the death penalty during his time as district attorney was not sufficient enough to prove impropriety.

“Judge Tucker writes Mumia’s petition is ‘not without merit but lacks foundation as to prior significant involvement by DA Castille’,” she wrote.

The Chicago Tribune reported Abu-Jamal's lawyers filed the appeal back in August 2016 after the U.S. Supreme Court found Castille should not have participated in another appeal after serving as a former prosecutor.

"If a judge served as a prosecutor and then the judge, there is no separate analysis or determination required by the court, there is a finding of automatic bias and a due process violation,” Judge Tucker wrote about the case.

We are hoping this means justice for Abu-Jamal is on the horizon.

Original: Former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal is seeking another chance at freedom.

Abu-Jamal is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 1981 murder of officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was initially sentenced to death in 1982 and spent 29 years on death row until December 2011. Lawyers representing the activist are hoping to vacate previous appeals to file a new one. Judge Leon Tucker has postponed recent appeal attempts.

According to NBC Philadelphia, the defense is arguing a missing memorandum written by former Philadelphia District Attorney Ron Castille could’ve played a decisive role in the denial of Abu-Jamal’s previous appeals.

Abu-Jamal was driving a cab when he noticed an altercation between Faulkner and his brother. He intervened. and the two men allegedly exchanged shots that led to the officer's death and a gunshot wound to Abu-Jamal's stomach. The esteemed Black activist has maintained his innocence, citing self-defense. 

National organizations are advocating for justice and back the 64-year-old author and journalist. Amnesty International released a statement in February 2000 arguing that Abu-Jamal did not receive a fair trial. In 2011, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund joined as co-counsel in representing his death sentence appeal.

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