Barrier to Mumia’s appeal dismissed: Case can move forward By Betsey Piette posted on December 17, 2020 Philadelphia A significant roadblock to Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal of his unjust 1982 murder conviction was removed on Dec. 16, when Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices dismissed an attempt by the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police to obtain a change of venue in the case. With this new ruling, all of Abu-Jamal’s pending appeals and motions in the Pennsylvania Superior Court will move forward from where they left off in February, when the state Supreme Court stayed all proceedings until the justices decided on the FOP’s King’s Bench petition.