A federal appeals court Thursday upheld a lower court decision to suspend the death sentence against Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal, according to DPA. But the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit left open the possibility of another jury trial which would rule only on the sentencing issue - either death or life in prison, the Philadelphia Inquirer daily newspaper reported online. If the added trial does not take place, then Abu-Jamal must be sentenced to life in prison, the court ruled. The case involves the high profile militant black activist Abu- Jamal, who was convicted in 1982 by a Philadelphia jury of killing a Philadelphia police officer, Daniel Faulkner, in December 1981.
