police, the National Sheriff's association, and the Police Chief's Association of Southeast Pennsylvania, served as the Under Sheriff of Philadelphia County for 16 years before ascending the bench; certainly evidence of a pro-cop bias. In addition, many believe that Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo handpicked Judge Sabo to preside over this case. Remember that Mumia Abu-Jamal was a prominent black journalist, nationally renowned for his indictments of the Rizzo administration, the fraternal order of police, and police misconduct in the city of Philadelphia. Also, in the November 1, 1983 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer (not the gossip magazine, National Enquirer) over one third of attorneys surveyed rated Judge Sabo as unqualified to preside over death penalty cases. After hearing this Judge Sabo curtly remarked, "If I were a defense attorney I wouldn't vote for me either," a clear indication of his general pro-prosecution outlook regarding capital cases. Lastly, Judge Sabo's rulings in capital cases have been reversed 11 times, giving him the national record in two rather dubious respects. Judge Sabo has sentenced more people to death than any judge in the country. He has also had his sentences overturned more than any other judge in America. Judge Albert Sabo has more than earned the title of "hanging judge" in this new era of crime prevention. Initially Mumia was granted the right to represent himself. Given his high intelligence he thought that he could levy a better defense than an under-experienced, over-worked public defender. This wouldn't last long. During voir dire, which is the process by which a jury is selected, Mumia was able to select only one juror before being stripped of his right to self-representation by Judge Sabo for no apparent reason. The juror he selected, an African-American, was later dismissed during trial for transient reasons. She was replaced with a white male juror who had expressed a bias in the case an...
