 Prosecution witnesses identified Abu @-@ Jamal as the shooter and two testified that he had confessed to shooting Faulkner . A jury convicted Abu @-@ Jamal on all counts and sentenced him to death . He spent the next 30 years on death row . After a succession of all possible appeals by Abu @-@ Jamal were exhausted , his conviction was upheld but his death sentence vacated . He was <unk> to life in prison without parole . District Attorney Seth Williams later stated that no further appeals would be filed in pursuit of the death penalty . 
