Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts

Sunday, December 30, 2018

After 3 plus decades in prison Mumia Abu-Jamal granted right of appeal

A judge in Philadelphia has reinstated appeal rights to former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal — convicted of killing a city police officer more than 30 years ago — who has long maintained his innocence as his case gained international attention.

Advocates of Abu-Jamal praised the decision by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker as a significant development toward winning the freedom of a man whose case generated decades of protest and thousands of supporters in the "Free Mumia" movement.

"This is an unheard of legal victory," said Rachel Wolkenstein, former lawyer and longtime activist for Abu-Jamal. "This is the best opportunity we have had for Mumia's freedom in decades."

Abu-Jamal has been incarcerated since his 1982 conviction for killing white Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in a racially charged case. The judge who issued the latest decision called the case one of the most polarizing shootings in the city's history. In 2011, prosecutors dropped the execution case against Abu-Jamal because of flawed jury instructions and instead agreed to a sentence of life in prison.

For years, Abu-Jamal's attempts at securing a new trial were denied. In the latest legal argument, his lawyers argued that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille should not have presided over Abu-Jamal's appeals battles. Castille was formerly Philadelphia's district attorney whose office fought to keep the activist and prolific writer behind bars.

Castille refused calls from Abu-Jamal's supporters to recuse himself from hearing the appeal, saying he never directly worked on the case. In 2012, Abu-Jamal's advocates thought he lost his final appeal when the state Supreme Court rejected a claim challenging the validity of forensic evidence that was used to convict him.

In his legal opinion on Thursday, Tucker said Castille made the wrong choice, because even the appearance of being biased can be damaging to the judicial system.

"The claim of bias, prejudice and refusal of former Justice Castille to recuse himself is worthy of consideration as true justice must be completely just without even a hint of partiality, lack of integrity or impropriety," Tucker wrote.

Tucker's ruling has breathed new life into the hopes of Abu-Jamal's supporters that he may one day be granted freedom.

[SOURCE: NPR]

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Texas police officer found guilty in the death of 15 year old Jordan Edwards

On Tuesday, a Dallas County jury convicted the former Balch Springs police officer of murder for shooting Jordan Edwards an unarmed 15-year-old as he left a party with his brothers and two friends in April 2017.

Roy Oliver, 38, was found not guilty, however, on two counts of aggravated assault for firing his rifle into the car full of teens.

The former officer, who was fired from the force not long after the shooting, was immediately taken into custody, and his bond was revoked.

He faces up to life in prison when testimony resumes Wednesday in the trial's punishment phase.

The mother of Jordan Edwards thanked jurors Tuesday for convicting her son's killer rather than letting him "walk away."

"The police just walk away and don't have to give account for anything," Charmaine Edwards testified in the punishment phase of Roy Oliver's trial. "I'm forever grateful that y'all seen it in your hearts to see that it was wrong."

[SOURCE: DALLAS NEWS]

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Georgia pair sentenced to prison over Confederate flag confrontation

A Georgia judge sentenced a man and a woman to spend years in prison on Monday for their roles in a 2015 Confederate flag display that disturbed a group of black people attending a child's birthday party, prosecutors said.

Defendants Jose Torres, 26, and Kayla Norton, 25, were convicted earlier this month of charges that include making "terroristic threats" during the confrontation in Douglas County near Atlanta, which occurred at a time of heated national debate about a flag that many consider a symbol of racism.

Georgia Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced Torres to serve 13 years in prison, and Norton to serve 6 years in prison, Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in a phone interview. Both face probation after their release, and were banished from Douglas County.

Attorneys for Torres and Norton could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sentences were a year longer than prosecutors had asked for, said Fortner, noting the crimes went beyond disagreements over the battle flag used by the pro-slavery South during the U.S. Civil War, which some defend as part of its heritage.

"This was a case where these people pulled out a shotgun and threatened to kill people at a party, including children," he said.

Read more: Georgia pair sentenced to prison over Confederate flag confrontation

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

No indictment in Sandra Bland case

A grand jury has decided not to indict anyone in the case of Sandra Bland, whose death in police custody raised questions of excessive force and the role of race.

The grand jury met for more than eight hours Monday.

"After reviewing all the evidence in the death of Sandra Bland, a Waller grand jury did not return an indictment in the death of Bland, nor were any indictments returned against any employee of the Waller County Jail," said Darrell Jordan, a special prosecutor handling the case.

The grand jury will reconvene in January to consider other indictments.

Read more; Grand jury decides against indictments in Sandra Bland case

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Jury deadlocked in William Porter's trial in Freddie Gray case

From WMAR (Baltimore) 4 PM Eastern time 12/15/15.

The jury in the trial of Officer William Porter sent a note to Judge Barry Williams saying they were deadlocked.

Judge Williams called the jury back in, instructed them again, and sent them back to continue deliberation.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

'Central Park 5' Win $40 Million From NYC For False Convictions

New York City has reportedly agreed to pay $40 million to settle with five men who were falsely convicted of the 1989 rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park, a case that drew national attention.

The five black and Hispanic defendants, who became known as "The Central Park Five," were found guilty in 1990 as teenagers for the attack on a white woman. They served from six to 12 years before their convictions were overturned in 2002 when evidence came to light that another, lone perpetrator was responsible.

Read more: 'Central Park 5' Win $40 Million From NYC For False Convictions

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Jonathan Fleming, an innocent man freed after 24 years in prison.

A wrongfully convicted Brooklyn man, Jonathan Fleming is free after spending two decades behind bars for murder. Watch his story below: