New Jersey officials hope the thaw in diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba will make it easier to extradite a former Black Panther Party member convicted of killing a state trooper in a controversial 40-year-old case.

Joanne Chesimard, who changed her name to Assata Shakur, was convicted in the 1973 death of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster. Prosecutors say Shakur killed Foerster in a shootout after she and two Black Panther affiliates were pulled over for allegedly driving with a broken taillight on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Two years after her conviction, in 1979, Shakur escaped from prison with the assistance of Black Liberation Army members. She resurfaced in Cuba in the 1980s, and Fidel Castro granted her asylum there.

Despite the conviction, many point to irregularities in Shakur’s case, including evidence that her attorneys’ offices may have been bugged and searched, and potential bias among the jurors. Shakur has maintained her innocence.

Shakur was rapper Tupac Shakur’s step-aunt and godmother.

Both federal and state authorities have sought Shakur’s extradition for years, even adding her to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list in 2013 and offering $2m in return for information on her.