 The Third Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the appeals on May 17 , 2007 , at the United States Courthouse in Philadelphia . The appeal panel consisted of Chief Judge Anthony Joseph <unk> , Judge Thomas <unk> , and Judge Robert <unk> . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sought to reinstate the sentence of death , on the basis that Yohn 's ruling was flawed , as he should have deferred to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which had already ruled on the issue of sentencing , and the Batson claim was invalid because Abu @-@ Jamal made no complaints during the original jury selection . Although Abu @-@ Jamal 's jury was racially mixed with 2 blacks and 10 whites at the time of his unanimous conviction , his counsel told the Third Circuit Court that Abu @-@ Jamal did not get a fair trial because the jury was racially biased , <unk> , the judge was a racist , and noted that the prosecution used eleven out of fourteen <unk> challenges to eliminate prospective black jurors . Terri <unk> @-@ Carter , a former Philadelphia court stenographer claimed in a 2001 <unk> nearly 20 years after the trial that she <unk> Judge Sabo say " Yeah , and I 'm going to help them <unk> the <unk> " in the course of a conversation with three people present regarding Abu @-@ Jamal 's case . Sabo denied having made any such comment . 
