PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A rift has led death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal's (moo-MEE'-ah AH'-boo jah-MAHL's) longtime lawyer to quit days before the latest oral arguments in the case.
Lawyer Robert Bryan of San Francisco says he was forced to quit over a difference in strategy for Tuesday's arguments before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court had granted Mumia a new sentencing hearing based on what it considered flawed jury instructions in his 1982 conviction in a Philadelphia police officer's death. But the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the 3rd Circuit to reconsider that decision, prompting Tuesday's hearing.
Bryan says he is stepping aside because Mumia wants Widener University law professor Judith Ritter to argue for him. Ritter did not immediately return a call for comment.
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