The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for convicted Philadelphia cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal to have a new jury decide whether he should be resentenced to death or to life in prison.
The high court left in place rulings that set aside Abu-Jamal’s death sentence in a case that has drawn international attention since the 1980s.
The Philadelphia district attorney had asked the court to restore the death sentence handed Abu-Jamal for the 1981 shooting of Officer Daniel Faulkner on a Philadelphia street.
Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter, was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting and his conviction still stands.
After Faulkner stopped a car driven by Abu-Jamal’s younger brother, Abu-Jamal pulled a gun, shot the officer and sat on the curb until he was arrested by other police arriving on the scene. A year later he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to die.
