So Mumia is entitled to a new sentencing hearing due to a mistaken jury instruction, but before death penalty opponents start proclaiming his innocence, keep in mind the following:
The fact is what is happening now has nothing to do with Abu-Jamal’s guilt. It only has to do with a very limited procedural issue, and at the very least, Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in jail. Activists who have been proclaiming his innocence will undoubtedly declare victory, but this rules does not vindicate nearly any of their claims. The only fact of the crime that remains in dispute: whether Mumia screamed upon his arrival at the hospital, and as a security guard testified at the trial, “I shot that motherf–, and I hope he dies.” But Mumia is still getting great press from the French.
