In a stunning turn of events, on Dec. 28th six previously undisclosed boxes of files labeled Mumia were “discovered” in an abandoned furniture closet at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office on 3 South Penn Square.

On January 3rd Nancy Kavanaugh, Assistant DA, notified the Common Pleas court and Abu-Jamal’s attorneys.

This dramatic turn of events has come in the wake of hearings lasting over two years during which the Court demanded full disclosure from the DA.  Frustrated by the lack of compliance with his orders, and patently obvious obstruction, Judge Tucker required that he personally review all of the previously disclosed MAJ boxes in his chambers. It was only after Tucker’s intervention that relevant material, on which the new appeal was won, was unearthed.

The new material/boxes discovered on 12/28, the day after the Tucker order granting Mumia relief in the Common Pleas court, could hold missing smoking gun evidence.  Or they could just be copies of already turned over information.

What is clear is that this development calls into question the ability of the DA to comply with the requirements of due process and a fair hearing.  It also provides a moral, if not a legal reason, for the District Attorney to not oppose the reinstatement of all of Mumia’s direct state appeal rights.

District Attorney Larry Krassner is facing a January 27th court deadline to appeal Tucker’s order.  If he appeals there could be years of delay before Mumia can challenge his criminal conviction.

It is also worthy to note that the six boxes appear old, circa 2000 or before. All but one had Mumia’s name and were labeled in such a way (18/29, 24/29, 29/29 etc.) as to suggest that they are part of a larger set.

As a P.I. I immediately thought about other dramatic historical examples regarding revelations of hidden evidence.  When key evidence suddenly materializes in a garage (Hurricane Carter), a purposely long forgotten evidence locker (Guildford 4) and now in a furniture closet (Mumia Abu-Jamal).

While there could be nothing in the boxes of importance, and the court could ignore the sanctions it should impose, make no mistake, there is a vast array of withheld, suppressed, and manufactured evidence in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.  For a detailed explanation of the errors in his case see Manufacturing Guilt by Stephen Vittoria.

Until this latest ruling, the Common Pleas court in Philadelphia has been complicit in suppressing key police corruption, prosecutorial misconduct and evidence of Mumia’s innocence.  Abu-Jamal v. Commonwealth of PA has it all: lost or forgotten ballistics tests, witness recantations, exposure of false confessions, and photographic proof of crime scene tampering.

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