[Ppnews] Mumia Press Release - Judith Ritter to argue appeal

[Political Prisoner News]

For Immediate Release: November 8, 2010

Press Conference Announcement & Statement from the Committee to Save 
Mumia Abu-Jamal on the Oral Argument in Mumia Abu-Jamal v. Beard


Contact: Professor Johanna Fernandez, 917-930-0804


New York. The Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal looks forward to 
Professor Judith Ritter's argument before the Third Circuit Court of 
Appeals on November 9 in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal v. Beard. 
Professor Ritter has been Abu-Jamal's counsel for seven years and 
successfully argued the Mills v. Maryland claim before the U.S. Third 
Circuit Court of Appeals in 2007.


On November 3, 2010, Mr. Abu-Jamal regretfully asked for the 
resignation of Robert Bryan, his lead attorney. Mr. Abu-Jamal did so 
only after Mr. Bryan refused to honor his numerous written and oral 
requests, spanning a year, that co-counsel Professor Ritter conduct 
the oral argument on the Mills/Spisak issue.


In his November 5, 2010 motion, Mr. Bryan claimed that Abu-Jamal 
supporters left a voicemail threatening him with public attacks and 
embarrassment, implicitly forcing him to resign. In fact, it was Mr. 
Bryan's refusal to honor his client's wishes that led Mr. Abu-Jamal 
to ask that Mr. Bryan tender his resignation.

As a long standing supporter of the appellee, the Committee to Save 
Mumia Abu-Jamal, which was formed in the 1980s to raise funds for his 
legal support, felt it important to ensure that Mr. Abu-Jamal's 
wishes and best interests were carried out.


The Committee urges all concerned to focus on the salient issue at 
hand, namely how the jury was mis-instructed by the court during the 
sentencing hearing in 1982, a claim granted by Judge William Yohn of 
the Federal District Court in 2001 and by the Third Circuit panel in 2007.
______

Place : Front Entrance, National Constitution Center
     Independence Mall, 525 Arch Street @ 6th & Arch St.

Date: Monday, November 8, 2010

Time: 3:00PM

Who:
Pam Africa, International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Prof. Johanna Fernandez, Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal & 
Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Heidi Bogosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild & 
Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
Frances Goldin, Mumia Abu-Jamal's Literary Agent, Committee to Save 
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Suzanne Ross, Free Mumia Abu Jamal Coalition (NYC)
Martha Conley, Free Mumia Committee of Pittsburgh
Prof. Mark Taylor, Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Prof. Michael M. Schiffmann, Germany, Author of Race Against Death
International Supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal
The French Collective



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