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Police widow Maureen Faulkner wants Philly DA off Mumia Abu-Jamal appeal

The longtime death-row activist is now serving a life sentence in Officer Daniel Faulkner’s slaying.

  • Tom MacDonald/WHYY
FILE PHOTO: In this April 30, 2018 file photo Maureen Faulkner, the widow of slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, speaks with members of the media after a hearing for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 murder of her husband, in Philadelphia.  The city of Philadelphia is poised to revisit one of its most contentious murders as prison activist Mumia Abu-Jamal fights for another day in court in a 1981 police slaying. Maureen Faulkner fears she will never find closure in the criminal justice system after nearly 40 years. She filed a petition Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 to get Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office recused from the case after Krasner failed to oppose Abu-Jamal’s bid for a new court hearing.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

FILE PHOTO: In this April 30, 2018 file photo Maureen Faulkner, the widow of slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, speaks with members of the media after a hearing for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 murder of her husband, in Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia is poised to revisit one of its most contentious murders as prison activist Mumia Abu-Jamal fights for another day in court in a 1981 police slaying. Maureen Faulkner fears she will never find closure in the criminal justice system after nearly 40 years. She filed a petition Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 to get Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office recused from the case after Krasner failed to oppose Abu-Jamal’s bid for a new court hearing.

(Philladelphia) — Police widow Maureen Faulkner is trying again to have Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office removed from the latest appeal over her husband’s 1981 traffic stop death.

Faulkner filed a petition Tuesday with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after losing a similar fight in a lower court.

Longtime death-row activist Mumia Abu-Jamal is now serving a life sentence in Officer Daniel Faulkner’s slaying. But he has a chance at another appeal based on a related U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Krasner says he found potentially damaging evidence about the prosecution’s trial witnesses in newly discovered files. He believes that evidence should be aired in court — but hasn’t said if Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial.

Faulkner wants Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro to take over the appeal. Krasner’s office says it has no comment.

 

WHYY is the leading public media station serving the Philadelphia region, including Delaware, South Jersey and Pennsylvania. This story originally appeared on WHYY.org.

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