[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] denied certiorari [order list, PDF] Monday in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal v. Beard [docket]. The Court offered no explanation for their refusal to hear the appeal of journalist and former Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal [advocacy website, Philadelphia Inquirer backgrounder], sentenced to death for killing a police officer in Philadelphia in 1981. Abu-Jamal appealed his conviction based on the contention that there was an unfair representation of African Americans in the jury pool. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit refused to order a new trial but affirmed an allowance of a new sentencing hearing [JURIST report] in the case solely on the issue of life imprisonment or a death sentence. That portion of the case was overruled based on findings of incorrect jury instruction. If prosecutors decline to seek a new sentencing hearing, Abu-Jamal will automatically receive life in prison. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear the issue of the death sentence reinstatement.

Abu-Jamal was accused of killing police officer Daniel Faulkner [advocacy website] after Faulkner pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother for a traffic violation. The case has become a focal point for death penalty opponents, attracting the attention of artists, civil rights activists, and politicians.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] issued two opinions Monday. The Court ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-4 in Corley v. United States [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that federal statutory [18 USC § 3501 text] and case [McNabb-Mallory backgrounder] law require suppression of a confession given more than six hours after arrest but before the defendant is presented to a judge if law enforcement authorities unreasonably delay presentment. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] Corley's convictions for armed bank robbery and conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, holding that voluntary confessions are admissible, even if there is an unreasonable delay. In an opinion by Justice David Souter, the Court overturned the lower court ruling, holding that in enacting § 3501, Congress intended "to limit, not eliminate, McNabb-Mallory":

We hold that §3501 modified McNabb-Mallory without supplanting it. Under the rule as revised by §3501(c), a district court with a suppression claim must find whether the defendant confessed within six hours of arrest (unless a longer delay was "reasonable considering the means of transportation and the distance to be traveled to the near-est available [magistrate]"). If the confession came within that period, it is admissible, subject to the other Rules of Evidence, so long as it was "made voluntarily and ... the weight to be given [it] is left to the jury." If the confession occurred before presentment and beyond six hours, however, the court must decide whether delaying that long was unreasonable or unnecessary under the McNabb-Mallory cases, and if it was, the confession is to be suppressed.

In this case, the Third Circuit did not apply this rule and in consequence never conclusively determined whether Corley’s oral confession "should be treated as having been made within six hours of arrest," as the District Court held. Nor did the Circuit consider the justifiability of any delay beyond six hours if the oral confession should be treated as given outside the six-hour window; and it did not make this enquiry with respect to Corley’s written confession.

[JURIST] Afghan President Hamid Karzai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] said Monday that a law which severely limits the rights of married Shi’ite women in Afghanistan would not be enforced until the country's Ministry of Justice [official website] has complete reviewing the law. A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] confirmed [AFP report] that the law had been placed on hold and submitted for review. Karzai ordered the review [JURIST report] of the Shi'ite Personal Status Law Saturday in the wake of international criticism for provisions, which opponents say require a woman to seek her husband's permission before leaving the house and effectively condone rape [NYT report] within a marriage. The law was enacted last month [JURIST report] and Karzai has said that it has been misunderstood by Western media, but that the law would be returned to the Afghan parliament if changes need to be made. The Afghanistan constitution [text, PDF] requires equal rights for both both men and women, but allows for the country's Shia [BBC backgrounder] population to observe some of its own religious laws.

Signing the law was one of several actions that Karzai has been criticized for since his appointment as Afghanistan's interim president in 2002. In early March, the UN reported that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is worsening [JURIST report], one week after a similar US report rebuked Afghanistan for, among other problems, continued use of child labor [JURIST report]. In November, the UN urged Afghanistan to discontinue use of the death penalty [JURIST report], which Karzai had reinstated following a four-year moratorium [JURIST report]. In April 2008, the Taliban attempted to assassinate Karzai [Guardian report] during a military parade, the third attempt on his life since 2001.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] granted certiorari [order list, PDF] Monday in Perdue v. Kenny A. [docket; cert. petition, PDF], in which the Court will consider whether an attorney’s fee award under a federal fee-shifting statute can be enhanced based on quality of performance and results obtained when these factors already are included in the lodestar calculation. The lodestar calculation is used by courts in awarding attorney's fees and is the product of reasonable hours worked and a reasonable hourly rate. The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] the lower court's enhancement of attorney's fees in a class action suit, finding that factors such as quality of performance and results obtained may appropriately be considered.

[JURIST] Belgium urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] Monday to compel Senegal either to begin proceedings against former Chadian president Hissene Habre [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] for crimes against humanity or to extradite him to Belgium for trial under the country's universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder, PDF]. Lawyers for Belgium said that Senegal has violated international law, including Article 7 of the Convention Against Torture [text], by not trying Habre in Senegal, where he has lived under house arrest since 1990. They also requested that the ICJ order Senegal to keep Habre detained until the issue is settled, out of fear that he may find refuge in another country [Reuters report]. Senegal has said that it may have to release Habre unless it can get international funding for his trial, but that his extradition to Belgium would violate Senegal's sovereignty. Oral arguments in the case will continue until Wednesday [ICJ press release, PDF].

Belgium filed the suit [JURIST report; ICJ press release, PDF] in February asserting the ICJ must intervene because Belgium and Senegal were in dispute over Habre's prosecution. In October, lawyers for Habre filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [official website] to prevent his trial for crimes against humanity in Senegal from moving forward. Fourteen Chadian and Senegalese filed complaints [JURIST report] with a Senegal prosecutor in September alleging Habre committed war crimes and torture. In August, Chad convicted and sentenced Habre to death in absentia [JURIST report] for crimes against the state but did not seek extradition. Since 2005, Belgium and Senegal have been engaged in a legal battle over Habre because Senegal has long refused extradition [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The US Navy on Friday reassigned Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler [JURIST news archive], a military lawyer who had been in charge of defending Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials, JURIST news archive], after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against a military official overseeing the case. Kuebler had worked on the case for two years before he was fired after alleging [Globe and Mail report] that the military's chief Guantanamo defense lawyer, Colonel Peter Masciola, had a conflict of interest in overseeing the case. Kuebler said Masciola should be removed from the case because Masciola said Khadr should also face civil liability for the alleged killing of a US soldier, despite his role overseeing Khadr's defense. Khadr is the only Canadian citizen currently being held in Guantanamo, and Canadian officials have said they may investigate [Star report] the circumstances surrounding Kuebler's removal.

Kuebler has long criticized Masciola's handling of the case, and in February said [JURIST report] that he had prompted an investigation of the defense team's ethics based on Masciola's leadership. In January, a US intelligence official said in pre-trial testimony that Khadr admitted [JURIST report] he threw a grenade that killed a US soldier in 2002. He has been charged [text, PDF] with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, and spying. In January, US President Barack Obama [official profile] ordered [text; JURIST report] Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [official profile] to halt all military-commission proceedings involving Guantanamo detainees pending a review of their detentions. That month, a military judge granted [text, PDF] the Obama administration's request for a continuance of Khadr's case until May 20.

[JURIST] US House Judiciary Committee [official website] Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) [official website] has released a final version of a report [text; PDF] reiterating his allegations that the Bush administration engaged in numerous abuses during the "war on terror" and calling on Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile; JURIST news archive] to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether any criminal laws were violated. The report, released Thursday, is predicated on Conyers's effort "to peel away the secrecy of [the Bush] Administration, expose its wrongdoing, and protect the liberties and freedoms of the American people." It contains recommendations for pursuing unresolved subpoena and document requests, the creation of a "Blue-Ribbon Commission," and specifically calls for an independent criminal review of the warrantless domestic surveillance, extraordinary rendition, and enhanced interrogation practices utilized by the Bush administration. Conyers asserts that these "war on terror" policies may be in violation of criminal laws and cites the UN Convention Against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment [convention text], ratified by the US in 1994, as international authority that requires its signatories to investigate possible torture within their jurisdictions. Conyers points out that since the Bush administration's "war on terror" policies appear to violate criminal laws, investigation would be warranted, but would present a conflict of interest for the Department of Justice. Since a special prosecutor would serve the public interest, the requirements for appointing a special prosecutor under 28 CFR 600.1 [text] are met.

This report constitutes the final version of the same document released [JURIST report] in January, but contains additional evidence of abuses. In March, the CIA admitted to destroying 92 tapes [JURIST report] of interrogations of the "high-value" detainees. Human rights groups have called [AI report] for the prosecution of senior Bush administration officials for their use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Such calls gained traction in late December, when the Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] alleged [report] that top Bush officials, including former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld [JURIST news archive], "bore major responsibility" for the abuses committed by US interrogators in military detention centers.

[JURIST] The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) [official website] announced Monday that it is dropping all corruption charges against African National Congress (ANC) [official website] leader Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The acting director of the NPA, Mokotedi Mpshe, issued a statement [text, DOC] that called into question the timing of the prosecution's original indictment [JURIST report] in December 2007. The indictment occurred just before Zuma was announced as the new leader of the ANC. Mpshe declassified phone conversations between former NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka and former head of the NPA's business unit, the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) Leonard McCarthy, discussing the charges against Zuma. Due to the close political connections between Ngcuka, McCarthy, and former South African president Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], Mpshe found that the legal process had been tainted. He concluded:

It follows therefore that, any timing of the charging of an accused person which is not aimed at serving a legitimate purpose is improper, irregular and an abuse of process. A prosecutor who uses a legal process against an accused person to accomplish a purpose for which it is not designed abuses the criminal justice system and subjects the accused person to that abuse of process.

Abuse of process through conduct which perverts the judicial or legal process in order to accomplish an improper purpose offends against one’s sense of justice.

[JURIST] Defense lawyers for former Liberian president Charles Taylor [case materials; JURIST news archive] on Monday filed [press release] a Rule 98 motion for acquittal [materials] following the close of the prosecution's case at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website; JURIST news archive]. The defense admits that atrocities were committed [AFP report] in Sierra Leone but maintains that the prosecution failed to provide evidence linking Taylor to any of them. The prosecution will have an opportunity to respond [Reuters report] to the defense's motion Thursday, and a ruling could come within the next two weeks.

Taylor is charged with 11 counts [indictment, PDF] of crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions [materials], and other violations of international humanitarian law, to which he pleaded not guilty. In February, officials announced [JURIST report] that they expected the court to render a verdict by 2010, despite the SCSL's ongoing financial troubles. After complaints [JURIST report] of prejudice in 2007, the SCSL increased [JURIST report] Taylor's defense funding to $100,000 a month. Taylor claims to be indigent but in June 2007, a five-member UN investigatory panel found [JURIST report] that he retains control over millions of dollars hidden in African banks.