PA: Abu-Jamal case still stirs anger

December 3, 2006

Pennsylvania

Abu-Jamal case still stirs anger

It's been 25 years since Officer Daniel Faulkner was slain. He and the man
convicted have supporters meeting this week.

By Joseph A. Gambardello, Philadelphia Inquirer

Google "Mumia Abu-Jamal" and you'll get more than 1 million hits for sites
containing his name. For "Police Officer Daniel Faulkner," it's only 22,800.

Twenty-five years ago this week, at the corner of 13th and Locust Streets -
before the Internet became a household word - an exchange of gunfire that
left Faulkner dead and Abu-Jamal wounded linked the names of the two men
inextricably in the city's history.

The survivor was transformed into a revolutionary folk hero, an
international cause celebre; the dead man became a memory whose cause has
been taken up by supporters determined to ensure that his is more than a bit
part in a death-penalty drama still without a final act.

Both sides - those who are determined Abu-Jamal is innocent and those who
are equally determined that he is not - will gather again in Philadelphia
this week. Abu-Jamal's supporters will be here to protest; Faulkner's
supporters to rally for his widow, Maureen, who never remarried and now
lives in California.

There have been many twists and turns in last 25 years - witnesses recanted
or their accounts were discredited, another man "confessed" to being the
killer, and a federal judge overturned Abu-Jamal's death penalty, a decision
that is still before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

But one thing has not changed: In the eyes of the law, Abu-Jamal remains
guilty of killing Faulkner Dec. 9, 1981, shooting him in the back and then
once in the head after the officer wounded him with a bullet to the chest.

And somewhere in between the two sides in the case are those who feel that
Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial but believe he did it.

The reasons why the case remains alive and is still being fought on the
Internet (Justice for Police Officer Daniel Faulkner vs. Free Mumia sites)
are varying and complex.

And because of them, there is a clash of perceptions about race, justice and
truth.

One thing that is clear is that Abu-Jamal was not a typical defendant. As a
teenager, he joined the Black Panther Party. He then became a radio reporter
of some renown whose African American colleagues elected him head of the
National Association of Black Journalists local chapter. But his radio work
fell off as he drifted toward the radical group MOVE.

His trial also was far from ordinary, with Abu-Jamal being regularly ejected
for disrupting the court, often in pressing his demand that he be
represented by MOVE founder John Africa before the mostly white jury.

Add to that the climate of suspicion at the time that the Philadelphia
police were racist and a brusque judge who became known for imposing death
sentences, and the ingredients were in place for a highly charged trial.

Finally, it was Abu-Jamal's death sentence that jelled international support
for him from left-leaning groups. He has been made an honorary citizen of
Paris and a street has been named after him in a Paris suburb.

In Philadelphia, however, support for Abu-Jamal is not that evident, except
among a few, including members of MOVE and those for whom opposition to the
death penalty is a driving force.

And since he was taken off death row five years ago, even international
attention has diminished.

For Maureen Faulkner, who has been steadfast in countering the arguments
made by Abu-Jamal's supporters, that also has had an effect.

"It's given me a normal life for a couple years," she said.

Joseph McGill, who prosecuted the case, said he believes most of those who
still support Abu-Jamal are part of what he called an "uninformed movement."

"The further you get away from Philadelphia, the less light that's shown on
it," he said. "The way they talk themselves out of considering the facts is
to say the facts are not true."

But his supporters argue the facts were fixed.

In court papers filed on Oct. 23, Abu-Jamal's lawyers assert that in 2000 a
court stenographer claimed that the original trial judge, Albert Sabo, was
overheard saying he was "going to help 'em fry the n-." Sabo, whose
courtroom actions and death sentences have been repeatedly questioned by
appeals courts, died in 2002.

Kemah Washington - whose late father and Episcopal activist, the Rev. Paul
Washington, called for a new trial for Abu-Jamal - said the passing of time
and the unchanging demands of life had made it "hard for people to focus" on
the case.

That, he said, did not mean that Abu-Jamal did not deserve another trial.

"Nobody can say he had a fair trial," said Washington, who has read the
trial transcript and believes Abu-Jamal is innocent.

The bare outline of the shooting goes like this:

At 3:45 a.m. on Dec. 9, 1981, Faulkner, 25, pulled over a green Volkswagen
driven by Abu-Jamal's brother William Cook in the 1200 block of Locust for
reasons still unknown.

A scuffle broke out. Abu-Jamal, 27, who was driving a cab at the time,
witnessed it from a parking lot on the corner and ran across the street.

Gunfire erupted, and when it was over, Faulkner had been shot in the back
and once in the face. Abu-Jamal was wounded in the chest, his licensed
.38-caliber handgun with five spent rounds at his feet.

Witnesses identified Abu-Jamal as the gunman at trial. The defense attempted
to make the case that another gunman shot Faulkner and fled.

McGill, now in private practice, thinks Abu-Jamal "got caught up in the role
he was playing" of a black revolutionary.

"He was much more involved in creating a role and creating an audience for
the trial at times then focusing on what would be best for him," the former
prosecutor said. "His whole focus was anti - anti-system, anti-government,
anti-judicial system."

McGill said he thinks Abu-Jamal could have been convicted of a lesser
homicide charge if he had waged a true defense.

That concerted defense did not come until 1995, when Abu-Jamal got a
post-conviction relief hearing with the same judge presiding.

But Abu-Jamal again lost and he later fired his attorneys, including noted
civil-rights lawyer Leonard Weinglass, who declined to comment for this
story.

In 2001, U.S. District Court Judge William Yohn Jr. revived the case by
overturning Abu-Jamal's death sentence, but disappointing both sides.

While he did not order a new trial, the judge directed that either Abu-Jamal
be sentenced to life or that prosecutors hold another death-penalty hearing
within 180 days.

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's decision to appeal stopped the 180-day
clock and the case remains before the federal appeals court, which has
deferred action while Abu-Jamal's lawyer pursues other appeals in state
courts.

On Friday, Maureen Faulkner will host a luncheon honoring Abraham at the
Union League with proceeds to go to a fund established in Daniel Faulkner's
name that awards scholarships to the children of Philadelphia murder
victims. On Saturday, Faulkner's family and friends will attend a Mass in
his memory in Philadelphia.

Also on Saturday, buses are scheduled to bring protesters from New York for
a march in support of Abu-Jamal from City Hall to the American Friends
Service Committee building at 15th and Cherry Streets.

---

Source : Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/p
hiladelphia_county/philadelphia/16149513.htm

“Today’s terrorist is tomorrow’s freedom fighter.”
— SHAC leader Kevin Kjonaas, at the Animal Rights 2002 convention

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stateyourcause/


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopNightmareDogIndustries/


http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/hlssucks