High Court Tells 3rd Circuit to Reconsider Death Sentence for Abu-Jamal

The U.S. Supreme Court has directed a federal appeals court to reconsider the death penalty for former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a police officer in 1981.

The Supreme Court directed the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision invalidating the death penalty for Abu-Jamal because of faulty jury instructions, according to Reuters, the Associated Press and SCOTUSblog. Abu-Jamal’s supporters contend he was convicted in a racist trial.

The Supreme Court told the 3rd Circuit to consider its ruling last week upholding a death sentence for convicted neo-Nazi Frank Spisak. The jury instruction issue in Abu-Jamal's case concerns whether jurors were misled about whether they had to agree unanimously on mitigating circumstances, AP says.

The case is Beard v. Abu-Jamal.