Hi! I sent this some days ago, but it doesn't seems to be posted (?!) Here it goes again...
Traducción de: Philadelphia Inquirer, 26.11.97 http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/97/Nov/26/city/SABO26.htm
Próximamente página en castellano sobre el caso de Mumia Abu-Jamal en: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2838/mumia.html
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EL JUEZ SABO ES DESTITUIDO
Este juez es conocido por su controvertido papel en el caso de Mumia Abu-Jamal. Otros dos jueces veteranos tambien han sido retirados.
Por Linda Loyd [Traducción: Quique] Escritora de la redacción del Philadelphia Inquirer
El juez Albert F. Sabo, que se ganó la atención internacional hace 2 veranos, cuando Mumia Abu-Jamal solicitó un nuevo juicio, se quedará sin trabajo en Enero, debido a una decisión del Tribunal Supremo del estado de recortar el número de jueces veteranos que prestan sus servicios en Filadelfia.
Sabo, de 76 años, que es conocido como un jurista apasionado por la "ley y el orden", y que ha presidido numerosísimos casos de pena de muerte, decía ayer que estaba "irritado por el procedimiento seguido", y que en su opinión había sido elegido para ser cesado de forma arbitraria.
El juez Alex Bonavitacola, Presidente del Tribunal de Apelaciones, informó recientemente a Sabo y a los otros dos jueces veteranos Louis G. Hill, de 73 años, y Norman A. Jenkins, de 70, de que no seguirían trabajando después del 31 de Diciembre, debido a una decisión del Tribunal Supremo de reducir de 14 a 10 el número de jueces veteranos de Philadelphia. El cuarto juez cesado, Ethan Allen Doty, de 91 años, falleció el lunes. Doty había dejado su puesto el pasado verano por razones de salud.
Los jueces veteranos son los que han alcanzado la edad de jubilación (70 años), pero que el Tribunal Supremo les permite trabajar a tiempo parcial, cobrando 324 dolares por día.
"Pregunté: '¿Por qué?' " decía Sabo ayer. "Le dije, '¿He rechazado alguna vez un caso, sea grande o pequeño?' [ Bonavitacola ] me dijo que debería hablar con el juez administrativo John Herron. Le he llamado. No me dijo nada. Yo quería que me dijera específicamente que sistema habían usado para cesarme."
Bonavitacola y Herron, no quisieron, en entrevistas, dar razones específicas de porqué fueron elegidos esos tres jueces.
Una fuente del Tribunal Supremo cercana a la decisión de los ceses dijo ayer que "ha habido numerosas quejas de abogados sobre la calidad de algunos jueces veteranos: los casos toman demasiado tiempo, los jueces no son del todo educados [...]". La decisión de quienes iban a ser cesados se ha basado en "productividad y temperamento" dijo esta fuente.
Sabo dijo que ha pedido al tribunal que reconsidere su decisión y le permita trabajar - o, al menos, explicarle porque le retiraban a él y permitían seguir a otros jueces más ancianos. No es la primera vez que se cesan jueces veteranos en Philadelphia.
En 1991, el Tribunal Supremo del estado recortó de 23 a 14 el numero de jueces veteranos que prestaban servicios en el Tribunal de Apelaciones debido a problemas presupuestarios.
Sabo, siempre controvertido, negó ayer ser improductivo o tener un temperamento difícil en el tribunal.
"No sé que quieren decir con productividad. Todo lo que hago es juzgar un caso cada vez", decía Sabo. "Cuando dos abogados entran en la sala, uno de ellos saldrá feliz. Otro saldrá enfadado. No puedes complacer a todo el mundo. Si hay algunos abogados a los que no les gusto, pueden apelar".
En sus 23 años en el cargo, Sabo consiguió la reputación de ser el rey de la pena de muerte. Durante 14 años, no presidió más que casos de homicidio, y 31 acusados salieron del tribunal con penas de muerte [¡"casualmente" sólo 2 de ellos eran blancos!]. Una investigación de este periódico descubrió que ningún otro juez en todo el país ha condenado a muerte a tantos acusados. El caso de Abu-Jamal, un ex-periodista de radio condenado en 1982 por el asesinato del agente de la Policía de Philadelphia Daniel Faulkner, fue uno de los 31 casos juzgados por Sabo que terminó con pena de muerte. En 1995, Abu-Jamal solicitó un nuevo juicio, alegando que no tuvo un juicio justo ante Sabo en 1982.
El caso obtuvo la atención de famosos y opositores a la pena de muerte de todo el mundo. Hubo protestas en una docena [?!] de ciudades y países.
Más de 500 personas se manifestaron ante el Ayuntamiento pidiendo un nuevo juicio - y un nuevo juez.
[...]
"Yo no soy un acusador encarnizado. Soy un juez conservador. Admitiré eso. No soy liberal", decía ayer.
Sabo dijo que no le preocupa lo que el Tribunal Supremo haga con el caso de Abu-Jamal. "Al Tribunal Supremo le pagan para que tome la decisión final. Yo ya tomé mi decisión. Si no tienes esta actitud, no puedes estar en este tribunal".
Leonard Weinglass, abogado de Abu-Jamal, no quiso comentar la futura salida de Sabo, excepto para decir, "Ya es historia".
[...]
Sabo dijo que desde que cumplió los 70 cada año le preguntaban cuando iba a dejar el cargo. "Mis amigos me decían '¿Por qué no te retiras? Relájate.' Yo les decía que si me quedaba en casa, mi mujer me encontraría un millón de cosas que hacer". Añadió, "No tenía intención de permanecer en el cargo hasta cumplir los 90. Simplemente no me gusta la manera en que lo han hecho. Apesta. No me dieron ningun razonamiento".
[...]
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JUDGE SABO IS OUSTED IN CUTBACKS
He is noted for his controversial role in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. Two other senior judges were dropped as well.
By Linda Loyd Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Judge Albert F. Sabo, who was in the international spotlight two summers ago during death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal's contentious bid for a new trial, will be out of a job in January, based on a state Supreme Court decision to cut the number of senior judges who serve in Philadelphia.
Sabo, 76, known as a passoniate law-and-order jurist who has presided over many death-row cases, said yesterday that he was "angry about the procedure that was followed" and believed Philadelphia court officials were arbitrary in selecting him to be cut.
Common Pleas Court President Judge Alex Bonavitacola informed Sabo and two other senior Common Pleas judges, Louis G. Hill, 73, and Norman A. Jenkins, 70, recently that after Dec. 31, they would not be working because of a Supreme Court decision to reduce from 14 to 10 Philadelphia's allotment of senior judges. Senior Judge Ethan Allen Doty,91, who also was not re-assigned, died Monday. Doty had left the bench last summer for health reasons.
Senior judges are those who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. echnically, the Supreme Court allows them to work part-time, and they are paid $324 per day.
"I asked, 'Why?' " Sabo said yesterday. "I said, 'Did I ever refuse a case, big or small?' [ Bonavitacola ] said I should talk with Administrative Judge John Herron. I called there. He didn't tell me anything. I wanted them to say specifically what system they used to pick me."
Bonavitacola and Herron declined, in interviews, to give specific reasons the three judges were chosen.
A Supreme Court official close to the decision on the cuts said yesterday that "there have been numerous complaints from lawyers about the quality of some senior judges: The cases take too long; the judges don't necessarily have a grasp; the judges are not all that kind and civil." The decision of whom to cut was based on "productivity and temperament," the official said.
Sabo said he had asked court officials to reconsider their decision and allow him to work -- or, at least, explain why he was let go while some judges who are older than him are allowed to stay. It is not the first time senior judges have been cut in Philadelphia.
In 1991, the state Supreme Court cut from 23 to 14 the senior judges serving Common Pleas Court because of funding problems.
Sabo, who is no stranger to controversy, denied yesterday that he was unproductive or had a difficult temperament in court.
"I don't know what they mean by productivity. All I can do is try one case at a time," Sabo said. "When two lawyers come into your courtroom, one is going to go out happy. One is going to go out mad. You can't please everybody. If there are some lawyers who don't like me, they can appeal it."
In his 23 years on the bench, Sabo acquired the reputation of being the king of death row. For 14 years, he presided over nothing but homicide cases, and 31 defendants left his court with death sentences. An Inquirer survey several years ago found no other judge in the country with as many defendants on death row. The case of Abu-Jamal, a former radio journalist convicted in 1982 of the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, was one of 31 cases tried before Sabo that ended in the death sentence. In 1995, Abu-Jamal appealed for a new trial, contending that he did not get a fair trial before Sabo in 1982.
The case captured the attention of celebrities and death-penalty opponents from around the world. There were rallies in a dozen cities and countries.
More than 500 people marched at City Hall for a new trial -- and a new judge.
Sabo, who for 16 years was Philadelphia's undersheriff, advising the sheriff on legal matters before he was elected to the bench in 1973, brushed off criticism by some that he is a "prosecutor in robes."
"I am not a prosecutor. I'm a conservative judge. I'll admit to that. I'm not a liberal," he said yesterday.
Sabo said he did not care what the Supreme Court does with the Abu-Jamal case. "The Supreme Court gets paid to make the final decision. I made my decision. If you don't have that attitude, you can't be in this court."
Leonard Weinglass, Abu-Jamal's lead attorney, declined to comment on Sabo's pending departure, except to say, "It's past history."
"Judge Sabo was a fair and excellent jurist for many years in the homicide program" said Charles F. Gallagher 3d, the homicide chief in the District Attorney's Office. "If he has more people than any other judge on death row it's because he got serious cases. And if they checked the record it wasn't Judge Sabo who decided that the defendant should get the death penalty. It was jurors." Defense lawyer Norris Gelman, who won an acquittal from a jury for Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo in a 1988 murder trial before Sabo, said, "People make Sabo into a monster, but he was fed a steady diet of horrendous murder cases. He got reversed more often than most judges, but he had more cases than most judges. Statistically, when you have horrible cases like that, you get more death penalties."
Sabo said he has contemplated each year since he turned 70 whether he should step down from the bench. "My friends have said to me, 'Why don't you retire? Take it easy.' I tell them if I stay home, my wife will find a million things for me to do." He added, "I had no intention of staying on the bench until I was 90. I just don't like the way they did this thing. It smells. I was given no reason." Judge Hill said yesterday that he was very surprised to lose his job, and added that he was "told nothing very clear cut" about the reasons.
Judge Jenkins is on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment.
©1997 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
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Tough Trial Judge's Job Cut
.c The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The judge known as the ``king of death row'' for sentencing 31 convicted murderers there over 14 years is being forced to retire from the bench.
Judge Albert F. Sabo, 76, is among three senior city judges being let go Dec. 31 as part of a plan to reduce their number from 14 to 10.
Sabo has questioned why he was fired while older senior judges remain. Court officials refused to explain; Sabo has asked them to reconsider.
Senior judges have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 but are allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court to work part-time at $324 per day.
Sabo's best known case was the 1982 murder trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former radio journalist convicted of murdering a Philadelphia police officer. In 1995, Sabo refused to grant a new trial despite new testimony about alleged police misconduct.
Sabo, elected to the court in 1973, has weathered controversy and criticism for much of his tenure, but he also has his defenders.
``If he has more people than any other judge on death row, it's because he got serious cases,'' said Charles F. Gallagher III, homicide chief in the district attorney's office.
AP-NY-11-26-97 1827EST
Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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