Saying he wanted to avoid another three decades of appealsâand a new public forum for Mumia Abu-JamalâPhiladelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said today he will not seek a new death penalty hearing for the convicted killer of Officer Daniel Faulkner.
Flanked by Faulkner's widow, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, officials of the Fraternal Order of Police and a cadre of prosecutors past and present who were involved with the case, Williams said he believed his office could successfully impanel a new jury and get a new death sentence against Abu-Jamal.
But the tortuous legal process ahead for a newly-imposed death sentence - and the likelihood that Abu-Jamal, 57, will die in prison before it could be carried outâmade that route seem futile.