On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia will hear legal argument on whether the death sentence should be upheld, or whether Abu-Jamal should get a new trial or a new sentencing hearing.
Bryan said that Abu-Jamal, now 53 and known as "Pops" to younger inmates, realizes that his life is on the line. "He and I are very realistic about what's at stake," said Bryan.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office declined to comment on Thursday's proceeding. In voluminous court papers, prosecutors contend that Abu-Jamal had a fair trial, and that he should be executed.
Abu-Jamal is one of 225 inmates awaiting execution in Pennsylvania, which has the fourth-largest death row in the nation behind California, Florida and Texas. More than half of the death-row inmates are from Philadelphia.
Since Pennsylvania reinstated the death penalty in 1978, three prisoners have been executed; they gave up their appeals and asked to die.
The Third Circuit, which handles appeals over federal cases in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the Virgin Islands, moves cautiously on death-penalty cases.
A number of other death-row appeals are pending in the court.
Though a decision in the Abu-Jamal case is not expected for months, the two-hour proceeding this week promises to refocus national and international attention on one of the city's most notorious cases.
Bryan said that lawyers and lawmakers from France and Germany are planning to attend the proceeding at the U.S. Courthouse at Sixth and Market Streets.
Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter then driving a cab, was convicted in 1982 of the shooting death of Faulkner, who had just pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother near 13th and Locust Streets in the early-morning hours of Dec. 9, 1981.
