Response To State Recusal Motion

From Robert Bryan, Lead Counsel for Mumia...

Dear Friends:

Recently the District Attorney of Philadelphia filed a motion seeking the disqualification of all judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia. The matter has been assigned to a special merits panel of the court.

On Friday, April 13, 2007, we filed the Response of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Appellee and Cross-Appellant, In Opposition To Commonwealth's Motion for Recusal. It is attached. As pointed out in our objection to this "misplaced and absurd" judicial disqualification attempt:

"Further, opposing counsel should not be permitted through this ploy to delay oral argument which is scheduled for May 17, 2007. Mr. Abu-Jamal has been on death row for nearly a quarter of a century, and would like for his case to be heard as scheduled by this Court."

Separately we have submitted a motion seeking an expansion of the time allotted for oral argument (Motion for Enlargement of Time for Parties To Orally Argue, and for Participation By Amici Curiae). In view of the complexity of the case, the 30 minutes allotted to each side seems inadequate. We also ask permission for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Lawyers Guild (joined by the National Conference of Black Lawyers, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice of Harvard Law School, Southern Center for Human Rights, and the National Jury Project), which have filed amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs, to be permitted to argue assuming additional time is granted.

You will be promptly advised upon further developments.

With best wishes,

Robert
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Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123

Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal