US Court Sets November Hearing For Famed Inmate Mumia Abu Jamal

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia will again review the death sentence of famed inmate Mumia Abu Jamal, on orders from the Supreme Court.
The Nov. 9 hearing could prove a setback for the convicted police killer and international cause celebre.

The appeals court had granted Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing based on what they called flawed jury instructions.

But the Supreme Court this year upheld a death sentence in an Ohio case with similar jury issues—and ordered the Philadelphia court to revisit its Abu-Jamal ruling.

Defense lawyer Robert Bryan does not believe the Ohio case seals Abu-Jamal's fate. He says they involve different facts.

Mumia has been on death row since his 1982 conviction for killing white Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.