The death penalty was sought although Jamal had no criminal record. All of Jamal's direct appeals have been exhausted. A death warrant can be signed at anytime. Public pressure continues to avert a death warrant, allowing time for the legal team, headed by renowned defense attorney Leonard Weinglass, to investigate the case and prepare a petition for a new trial. Jamal is one of 189 people on death row in Pennsylvania, being held at the state's new super maximum security prison in remote, southwestern Greene County.
Visits are limited to two hours once a week.
Visitors pass through a series of remote controlled doors to reach visiting cubicles where plexiglass and wire separate visitor from prisoner. Group activities and work opportunities are denied. Prisoners are locked in concrete, virtually sound proof 8 x 10 foot cells for 23 to 24 hours a day. Five days a week, prisoners have one hour of exercise in an outdoor cage. Over 125 eyewitnesses gave statements to the police at the scene.