Update (April 18, 2019): Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner decided to drop his challenge of a judge’s ruling to grant former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal a new appeal hearing.
Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death for the killing of Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. He was on death row before his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2011. Abu-Jamal exhausted his appeals until he was granted a new opportunity to plead his case in December, according to The Inquirer.

Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker ruled in his favor because former State Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille did not recuse himself from a murder trial despite a conflict of interest. Tucker said Castile did the same in Abu-Jamal’s case.

Krasner initially challenged the decision because he feared it could affect numerous rulings. Tucker said the DA’s assessment was a “mischaracterization of the facts.”

In 1990, then-District Attorney Castille sent a letter to Governor Robert Casey calling for death warrants to be issued against convicted cop killers to “send a clear and dramatic message to all police killers that the death penalty actually means something.” Following a narrowed version of Tucker’s ruling and discovery of the letter, Frasner agreed Castille was wrong to wear “two hats,” reports Time.

“Although the issue is technical, it is also an important cautionary tale on the systemic problems that flow from a judge’s failing to recuse where there is an appearance of bias,” Krasner said.

Faulkner’s widow, Maureen, was “devastated” by the news and was upset she did not get a warning before a public announcement. Krasner reportedly promised to inform Maureen of any updates before the information was made public.
“I was just crying my eyes out, once again,” she said. “What about the survivors? What about victims in Philadelphia, and how they’re notified?”

Original: Longtime civil rights attorney turned Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner will fight the latest Mumia Abu-Jamal appeal.

According to a recent report from The Associated Press, Krasner filed a notice January 25 announcing he will challenge the order. Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther, was convicted of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. The 64-year-old is currently serving a life sentence without the potential of parole.

In December, the imprisoned activist and journalist had a glimmer of hope after Judge Leon Tucker granted him a new opportunity to appeal his conviction. It was determined Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille, who was also the district attorney during Abu-Jamal appeals case at the lower-court level, had a conflict of interest. 

Abu-Jamal's defense attorney, Judith L. Ritter, commented on the decision last month stating there was clear "unconstitutional bias."

"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,” Ritter said in a statement via KYW. “This was a straightforward application of federal and Pennsylvania law requiring cases to be decided by judges whose impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned." 

Legal scholars in recent years have highlighted other issues surrounding the case. The AP reports files concerning the case located in a storage area. Many of the records were identified as police documents, tapes, jury selection notes and discovery material.

According to NBC Philadelphia, Krasner billed himself as a progressive prosecutor. There were some contested encounters with the police union. The two clashed in 2015 when he spared two men from the death penalty.

Ritter and the local NAACP are calling his record into question. She said the latest development takes away Abu-Jamal's right to an appeal.  

"We are very disappointed that D.A. Krasner has decided to challenge the conclusion of an objective judge that Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied this right," said Ritter. "Krasner's appeal only risks delaying our opportunity to make our case to an appellate court untainted by bias."

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