Trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal

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This article describes the extended legal proceedings surrounding the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal on first-degree murder charges for the December 9, 1981 killing of Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) officer Daniel Faulkner, including the 1982 criminal trial that resulted in Abu-Jamal's conviction and death sentence, the 1995-1997 Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) appelate hearings, and numerous intermediate appeals, motions and declarations.

Supporters of Abu-Jamal have raised (and supporters of the prosecution have responded to) a large numbers of issues concerning the 1982 trial and ensuing appeals, as well as with the conduct of the initial PPD investigation and the political and social climate in which these events have all transpired. A brief synopsis of events generally held to be beyond contention are presented below, along with a recounting of criticisms that have been made.

Contents

[edit] The events of December 9, 1981

Main article: Mumia Abu-Jamal

On the morning of December 9, 1981, Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop of a vehicle driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. Whether or not Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was sitting in a taxi nearby, intervened or merely got out of his cab to see what was going on is disputed.

Accounts of what happens next also differ. The police say they found officer Faulkner dead, and Mumia Abu-Jamal lying nearby with a bullet in his chest. A gun registered to him was a few feet away, containing 5 spent shell casings[1]. Abu-Jamal was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to a hospital, and treated for his injury.

[edit] Officers responding to the scene

First to arrive were Officers James Forbes and Robert Shoemaker; others who arrived included Officer Vernon Jones and Detective Edwin Quinn. The senior PPD official at the scene was Inspector Alfonzo Giordano, then head of the department's Homicide Division.

[edit] The 1982 trial

The trial was held from June 17 to July 3, 1982; the presiding judge was Albert F. Sabo.

[edit] Witnesses

Police investigators spoke with 125 people who were in the general vicinity of 13th and Locust in the early hours of December 9, 1981. The main eyewitnesses who testified at the trial include four witnesses who were at the scene of the shooting – Robert Chobert, Veronica Jones, Michael Scanlon, Cynthia White, and Albert Magilton – in addition to William Cook. There were also three eyewitnesses who testified to events which happened at the hospital after the shooting: PPD officers Gary Bell and Gary Wakshul , and hospital security guard Priscilla Durham.

[edit] Witnesses stating they saw Abu-Jamal shoot Faulkner

Three key witnesses provided testimony stating that they witnessed the shooting of David Faulkner, and identifying the shooter as Abu-Jamal.

  • Robert Chobert – employed as a cab driver; at the time of the shooting, also driving with a suspended license and on probation for felony arson charges. Chobert had just pulled over to the south side of Locust St., directly behing Officer Faulkner's car, and had just let a passenger alight when he heard the first shot fired. Chobert claims to have seen Abu-Jamal shoot Officer Faulkner, although the actual gun was apparently out of his line of sight. During cross-examination, Jackson brought out discrepancies between Chobert's description of the shooter's clothes and weight and that of Abu-Jamal.
  • Michael Scanlon – a motorist who was stopped at a red light when he witnessed about 30 seconds of the incident and drove away before it ended, according to him. Scanlon admitted he had a few drinks at a party before the incident, but denied being drunk. He testified that he saw Faulkner in the process of making an arrest on a suspect and the suspect suddenly turned around and punched him. According to his testimony, during the ensuing struggle, another man (Jamal) ran across the street and shot Faulkner in the back, and then fired more shots into Faulkner after the officer had fallen to the ground. Scanlon's testimony largely supports the police version of the events, however, he only identified Jamal by his clothing and said he didn't see Faulkner fire back at him, as his attention was not focused on Faulkner's hands.
  • Cynthia White – employed as a sex worker, White was standing at the corner of 13th and Locust. Made three visits to PPD investigators in the weeks after the hearings. In the PCRA hearings the defense challenged her 1982 deposition, saying it evolved steadily in favor of the prosecution over the course of these three sessions, drawing on statements made by Yvette Willams and Pamela Jenkins.

[edit] Other witnesses at the scene

  • Albert Magilton – was standing NW of the scene, at 13th and Locust, near the vehicle of Michael Scanlon. Stated that he saw Abu-Jamal "running from the parking lot towards Officer Faulkner with one arm raised in a shooting fashion", heard shots being fired but did not witness the shooting of Faulkner because he had to avert his gaze to avoid oncoming vehicle.
  • Desie Hightower – at the time of the shooting Hightower was in the parking lot behind Wispers, having entered the car owned by his friend Robert Pigford. Did not witness the shooting, but heard four or five shots, and looked towards the scene of the shooting in time to see the aftermath. Hightower made a statement at 5:10 AM, key points being that he saw:[1]
    • a black male, "possibly Jamaican", sitting in the VW; when the police arrived, they "struck him and threw him in a wagon".
    • a black male standing over Faulkner's body, who "backed off and stood against the wall" when the police arrived, and "looked like he was in shock." Hightower was adamant that didn't believe he was the shooter because "he just stood there".
    • and another black male (who also "looked Jamaican"), 5'11" or 6', wearing dark colored pants and a black and red sweater, running down Locust St., away from the scene, "towards the hotel".
It is also notable that the person who he said "was just standing there" was in the station at the time his statement was taken; he later explicitly identified him as William Cook.
  • Veronica Jones – a 21-year-old mother of two small children, employed as a sex worker and facing unrelated felony charges. At the time of the incident she was walking with an acquaintance along 12th St., just south of the high-speed line entrance, and, she would later acknowledge, substantailly intoxicated (under the influence of alcohol and marijuana). Out of view from the scene of the shooting while it happened, she famously testified having seen two men "run or jog" away from the scene. Jones was recalled as a defense witness in the PCRA hearings, where she asserted that police attempted to extort corroborative testimony from her in exchange for freedom to pursue her trade.
  • William Cook – finally, there is Cook himself. Although an eyewitness to the entire incident, he never gave the officers who arrived at the scene any description of the events, nor did he testify on his brother's behalf at Mumia's subsequent trial. He later gave a statement[2] claiming he had not assaulted Faulkner (despite having plead guilty shortly after the initial incident), and his brother was not the shooter. But this was in one of Abu-Jamal's appeals in 2001, nearly 20 years after the incident occurred.

[edit] Witnesses at Jefferson Hospital

A key feature of the 1982 trial were witnesses reports that Abu-Jamal yelled "I shot the motherfucker and I hope the motherfucker dies" while being treated for his wounds at nearby Jefferson Hospital.

  • Gary Bell and Gary Wakshul, PPD officers. They both claimed to have heard Abu-Jamal's confession, but neither of them wrote it on his police report, claiming to be too emotionally devastated. Bell testified to this at trial, but Wakshul did not testify until the PCRA hearings, as he was not available during the trial.
  • Priscilla Durham – Durham was a hospital security guard who made a report to the hospital authorities the day after the shooting that Abu-Jamal confessed to the shooting. She was an acquaintance of officer Faulkner, but testified that she did not know at that time who the man being brought in was. In July 2003, the defense obtained a signed affidavit from Kenneth Pate (Then serving a jail sentence, in the same prison as Mumia Abu-Jamal), a half-brother of now-deceased Priscilla Durham, claiming that on a telephone conversation they had, she told him she had not heard Mumia confess, but had been pressured to say she did by the police.[2]

[edit] Persons making statements to police, but not called to testify

Several persons were in the vicinity 13th and Locust on December 9, 1981, and made statements to police about what they saw, but were not called by either the defense or prosecution, for various reasons; some would also make statements in various proceedings that followed in the years after the initial trial, or see their 1981 statements cited by supporters of either side of the controversy. Among these were:

  • Robert Harkins – employed as a cab driver. Within an hour of the shooting, Harkins provided a crucial statement stating that he observed a male assailant fire three shots at Faulkner, from above, while Faulkner was lying on the ground – but did not identify this person as Abu-Jamal. Harkins was later called as a defense witness in the 1995 PCRA hearings.
  • Robert Pigford – friend of Desie Hightower, who was with Pigford in his car behind Wispers at the time of the shooting. Made a statement that largely overlaps with Hightower's, with additon of seeing "this other guy" (not the "guy just standing there" in Hightower's statement) being high with blackjacks before being dragged of in a wagon.[3].
  • Deborah Kordansky – was sitting in her bedroom north of the scene, watching television, at the time the shooting. Did not witness shooting, and first made visual contact after police cars had arrived and she saw lights flashing. Made a statment stating that she saw two individuals running from the scene; this statement was withheld from the defense until very late in the trial, and any information in the statement that would have allowed the defense to solicit her as a witness was removed from the statement. Would later be contacted by the defense in the PCRA hearings.
  • Kenneth Freeman – friend of William Cook, and partner in his vending business nearby. Questioned shortly after the event, and several days later, Freeman has been variously attributed as being a passenger in Cook's VW, one of (perhaps multiple) persons fleeing along Locust St to the east, or both. Freeman's statements to police (if any were recorded) appear unavailable to the public record, and Freeman himself was found dead under suspicious circumstances in on May 14, 1985, one day after the infamous bombing of the MOVE community headquarters in West Philadelphia. Freeman would generally have a low profile in the controversy until being claimed by German researcher Michael Schiffmann as the probable killer of Officer Faulkner.
  • William Singletary – standing at the SW corner of 13th and Locust at the time of the shooting. Made a statement to police shortly after the shooting, but not called as a witness; later famously called as a defense witness in the PCRA hearings, claiming he saw the real killer flee the scene, only to be cross-examined by the prosecution and to make many statements generally considered to be less than credible, if not outright fanciful.

[edit] Defending counsel

Criminal defense attorney Anthony Jackson was chosen by Abu-Jamal as legal counsel, based on recommendation by his friends at the Black Journalists Association. Abu-Jamal was also personally acquainted with Jackson before the murder. Jackson petitioned the Court to have the case assigned to him at public expense, to which the Court agreed. Jackson had previously represented twenty murder defendants and was successful in fourteen of those cases. Of the six clients Jackson represented who were convicted of murder, not one of them received a death sentence.

As previously noted, Abu-Jamal subsequently asked to represent himself, to which Judge Sabo agreed. However, after disruptive actions (according to court records, Abu-Jamal was removed from the courtroom thirteen times for disruptive behavior), Abu-Jamal was warned that he would lose that right if he did not stop. When Abu-Jamal's behavior continued, Jackson was reinstated as the defense lawyer. The Philadelphia Inquirer later stated that Jamal's disruptive behavior was "as bizzare as it was suicidal"[3]

Abu-Jamal repeatedly asked to be represented by, or at least assisted at council table by local political activist John Africa (who had also been noted for his disruptive courtroom behavior). The court refused, on the grounds that Africa had no legal training, and was thus barred by law from sitting at council table. The court did agree to let Abu-Jamal confer with whomever he liked during recesses. Abu-Jamal objected to Jackson, and refused to cooperate with him, saying he was "functioning for the court system, not for me", and that Africa, not Jackson, was his real counsel. Jackson later alleged that Abu-Jamal didn't return to him some of the documents (such as witness statements) he had handed him when Abu-Jamal took over the defense.

It is sometimes claimed Jackson was allowed only $1500 to analyze evidence and to hire expert witnesses, though receipts indicate that the defense spent $13,000.

Jackson was disbarred in 1992 for drug abuse [4].

[edit] The jury

The racial composition of Philadelphia at the time of the trial was 40% black. The racial composition of the jury was not recorded, but it is known at least two and possibly three jurors were black (13% to 25% of the jury), as was a fourth accepted by the prosecution who was later dismissed. There is dispute over the reason for this juror’s dismissal, with Abu-Jamal’s supporters claiming the juror violated sequestration, and opponents stating that the juror was dismissed by Abu-Jamal as part of an attempt to intimidate the jury.

It is sometimes claimed that the prosecution requested the removal of many black potential jurors specifically because they were black. Both prosecution and defense were allowed up to twenty peremptory challenges, and the prosecution used fifteen of these, giving reasons for each.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which reviewed the case twice, did not conclude that racial bias was a factor in jury selection, which would have been grounds to order a new trial.

[edit] Ballistic evidence

Abu-Jamal's gun was a .38 caliber weapon, and Dr. Paul Hoyer, who performed the autopsy, wrote in his notes that the bullet removed from Faulkner's body was ".44 cal". However, he testified that this was merely a guess he made before actually performing the autopsy, and this guess was not included in the autopsy report, as he had no ballistics training.

The court accepted Dr. Hoyer as a ballistics expert. However, during the 1995 PCRA appellate hearing, Judge Sabo contended that the medical examiner was "not a ballistics expert" like the two ballistics experts (including Jamal's own) who have since testified the bullets removed from officer Faulkner were consistent with being fired from the .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver which was registered to Jamal and found at the scene. The incorrect guess may be explained by the fact that the bullet was a +P, which leaves a larger wound. Abu-Jamal’s supporters claim that the discrepancy between Dr. Hoyer's notes and Abu-Jamal’s gun caliber was never made known to the jury.

Official ballistics tests performed on the bullets show that Officer Faulkner was killed by a .38 caliber bullet. The fatal .38 slug was a Federal brand Special +P bullet with a hollow base (the hollow base in a +P bullet was distinctive to Federal ammunition at that time), the exact type (+P with a hollow base), brand (Federal), and caliber (.38) of bullet found in Jamal's gun. Additionally, ballistics tests show that the bullet that killed Officer Faulkner was fired from a weapon with the same rifling characteristics as Jamal's .38 Caliber revolver. Ballistics tests also matched the bullet found in Jamal to Faulkner's service revolver. The ballistics expert for Jamal's defense, George Fassnacht, did not dispute these findings.

Supporters of Abu-Jamal also say that the prosecution maintained that Officer Faulkner turned and fired at Abu-Jamal as he fell to the ground after being shot. Therefore, the entry of the bullet into Abu-Jamal should have been on a level or upward trajectory. However, according to the medical records, the overall pathway of the bullet was downwards. Supporters of the prosecution's case claim that the prosecution never made the claim that Faulker fired his shot as he fell to the ground, and in fact has never attempted to establish how Jamal received his chest wound. As such, Faulkner could have shot Jamal while he was either still standing or in the process of falling, explaining the downward angle the bullet trajectory.

[edit] Procedural criticisms

Many issues and criticims raised during the the sequence of appeals and hearings starting in 1989; some of these are presented below.

[edit] Impartiality of Judge Sabo

Concerns raised about impartiality include that Sabo had a reputation of being in favor of the police and against defendants. Court stenographer Terri Mauer-Carter also later alleged, in an affidavit dated August, 2001, that she and her boss Judge Richard B. Klein, another Philadelphia judge, overheard Sabo saying he was going to "help them fry the nigger" shortly before the start of the 1982 trial. There has to date been no corroboration of this charge.

[edit] Use by the prosecution of irrelevant factors

Abu-Jamal's supporters claim that when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court first upheld his conviction in 1989, the Court found no impropriety in the prosecutor using Abu-Jamal's teenage membership in the Black Panther Party to claim he harbored a desire to kill a police officer for over a decade, despite Abu-Jamal having no criminal record. Later, Federal District Court judge Yohn threw out the death sentence because of Sabo's incorrect instructions to the jury on just this point.

[edit] Criticisms regarding witness testimony

Critics of the Abu-Jamal trial have questioned the credibility of a number of the witnesses based on contradictions and inconsistencies in their testimony. It is to be noted that eyewitness testimony can be unreliable, and has frequently been found to be a cause of mistaken criminal conviction. On the other hand the testimony of valid eyewitnesses may not always be identical in every detail (see, for example, mistaken identity).

[edit] Response to criticisms

Critics of these claims say these are relatively small errors against the larger background of events and testimony, which they say maintain Abu-Jamals' guilt, and say that these claims are an attempt at politicization and invoke public sympathy for the various racial and socail issues involved to distract from (what they say) is the fact that they are unable to make a convicing case for Abu-Jamal's defense.

To buttress their case, supporters of the prosecutors have produced a detailed map, which they say shows the locations and movements of the various witnesses.

[edit] Death sentence and intermediate appeals (1982-1995)

After the conviction, Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey (Democrat) refused to sign Abu-Jamal's death warrant.

In 1989, Abu-Jamal appealed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (PSC) for a release or a new trial; the appeal was reviewed, but denied. In 1990, Abu-Jamal appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which declined to review. In 1995, Pennsylvania's new governor, Tom Ridge (Republican) signed Abu-Jamal's death warrant, at which point Abu-Jamal's attorneys petitioned for a hearing under Pennsylvania's Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), which delayed the execution. [5].

[edit] PCRA hearings (1995-1998)

The appelate hearings spread over three phases over years:

  • July to September 1995
  • September and October 1996
  • June and July 1997

Ultimately the PSC denied the appeal again, upholding Mumia's conviction and the fairness of the 1982 trial.

[edit] New witnesses

A key feature of the appelate hearing was the defense's production of several new witnesses, which were either not known to the defense at the time of the 1982 trial, or (the defense alleges) were intimidated into silence at the time.

Among these were:

  • Wiliam Harmon
  • Sharon Smith

Finally, in 1996, Tom Ryan and five other officers from the same district went to prison after being convicted of charges in unrelated cases of planting evidence, stealing money from suspects and making false reports. Their convictions resulted in the release of numerous prisoners implicated by the officers.

[edit] Post-PCRA appeals (1999-2006)

In 1999, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case for a second time.

In December 2001, a federal judge affirmed his murder conviction but ordered that Abu-Jamal should either receive a new sentencing hearing or have his sentence commuted to life in prison because of an error by the trial judge in presenting rules of sentencing to the jury. This decision was appealed by both sides and, as of March 2006, the appeal is still pending, and Abu-Jamal remains in prison.

[edit] New witnesses

  • Terri Maurer-Carter – court stenographer working for the Court of Common Pleas during the time of Abu-Jamal's 1982 criminal trial. Provided a declaration asserting that the she (along with three other persons present) overheard Judge Sabo tell another person, "Yeah, and I m going to help them fry the nigger."[6], a statement which has not been independently corroborated. While her declaration did not name the others present, it is generally known that one of those is Judge Richard B. Klein, who, as of 2006, is a Commissioned Judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. When directly asked about the matter by writer David Lindorff, Klein is said to have demurred, saying "I won’t say it did happen and I wont say it didn’t. That was a long time ago."[citation needed]
  • Yvette Williams – employed as a sex worker, Williams was in jail during the time of the shooting, where she meet fellow sex worker and acquaintance Cynthia White, who had been brought into protective custody. Williams was called by the defense to provide corrboration of White's later accounts of being coerced into providing false testimony.[7]
  • Kenneth Pate – half-brother of 1982 trial witness Priscilla Durham, and co-inmate of Abu-Jamal's at SCI Huntingdon. In 2003 the defense produced a declaration [8] Pate, asserting that Durham said that police told tried to persuade her that, as a security guard, she was part of the "brotherhood" and should be willing to provide (false) testimony stating that she heard Abu-Jamal say that he killed Faulkner; and that, amidst the chaos at Jefferson Hospital, police were interferring with Abu-Jamal's treatment, saying "let him die."

[edit] Worldwide response and public debate

An anarchist mural in inner-city Bristol, England
Enlarge
An anarchist mural in inner-city Bristol, England

[edit] Support for the defense

Abu-Jamal's case has become a popular cause on the political left, within the anti-globalization movement, and among anti-death penalty activists as well as the black nationalist movement. Saving Mumia Abu-Jamal from the death penalty is a popular cause among people and organizations who insist he is innocent. Others, without concern for whether he is factually innocent, still believe that he did not receive a fair trial. A third group of supporters simply oppose the death penalty in general. A fourth group object to harsher penalties for killing a police officer than for killing an ordinary citizen. Others view the police as an oppressive force and so think the killing was justified.[citation needed] Many supporters have called for a new trial, his release from prison, or the commutation of his sentence to life in prison.

[edit] Supporters of the prosecution

The Philadelphia Office of the District Attorney, Daniel Faulkner's family and the Fraternal Order of Police maintain the validity of the determination of the factfinder, the jury that heard the case, that Abu-Jamal killed Faulkner while Faulkner was engaged in a legal, justified arrest. In August 1999, the FOP's national biennial general meeting passed a resolution calling for an economic boycott of all individuals and businesses that had expressed support for freeing Abu-Jamal. The boycott is frequently the subject of fraudulent e-mails and internet rumors enumerating a long list of artists and organizations that were never in fact boycotted by the Fraternal Order of Police.[9]

In his book "Dude, Where’s My Country?", filmmaker Michael Moore stated that he believes that Abu-Jamal is "probably" guilty of the Faulkner murder, and that “those defending him may have overlooked the fact that he did indeed kill that cop”. However, Moore is against sentencing Abu-Jamal to death due to what he believes was an unfair trial proceeding and his stance against the death penalty in general. [4] Moore later apologized for his remark and publicly retracted it. [5]

The Rotten Library, a popular online database, contains a fair lengthed biography of the man. While critical of the police and court proceedings, they have remained supportive of his guilt nonetheless: "Yes, Mumia is a cop killer. He did it. He's guilty. Really... The annoying thing is that undoubtedly there are genuinely innocent people on death row. Mumia Abu-Jamal is simply not one of them."[6]

[edit] General criticisms by Abu-Jamal’s supporters

Abu-Jamal's supporters speculate that since Abu-Jamal had taken a high profile position with the Black Panther Party (BPP) as a teenager, he could have been a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO program, whose purpose, they claim, was to harass, disrupt and destroy political groups such as the BPP. Several other Black Panthers who were convicted of various crimes, including murder, have been released pursuant to their claims on appeal that the FBI withheld evidence which would have acquitted them, such as Geronimo Pratt.

The ABC News program 20/20 concluded in its December 9, 1998, episode, after a four month investigation, that Jamal did receive a fair trial and that many -- if not all -- of the arguments made by his supporters are based on incomplete information, or information that is blatantly false. Jamal's supporters argue that 20/20 had a strong bias against Abu-Jamal on the grounds 20/20 discredited a witness who testified in favor of him (Jenkins) because she was a prostitute, but failed to discredit another key witness who testified against him (White) who was also a prostitute.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Desie Hightower Statement, 12-9-81, 5:10 AM
  2. ^ Declaration of Kenneth Pate
  3. ^ Robert Pigford Statement, 12-9-81, 5:20 AM
  4. ^ Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) Filing, 25 July 2001, part 6, item 552
  5. ^ Summary of the Case Facts
  6. ^ Declaration of Terri Maurer-Carter, August 21, 2001
  7. ^ Declaration of Yvette Williams, January 28, 2002
  8. ^ Declaration of Kenneth Page
  9. ^ http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/mumiaabujamal.htm
  • Mumia: A Case for Reasonable Doubt
  • Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Live from Death Row. HarperTrade, 1996. ISBN 0-380-72766-8
  • Abu-Jamal, Mumia. We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party. South End Press, 2004. ISBN 0-89608-718-2
  • Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience. South End Press, 2003. ISBN 0-89608-699-2
  • Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People. Africa World Press, 2003. ISBN 1-59221-019-8
  • Abu-Jamal, Mumia. All Things Censored. Seven Stories Press, 2000. ISBN 1-58322-022-4
  • Amnesty International. The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Life in the Balance (Open Media Pamphlet Series). Open Media, 2001. ISBN 1-58322-081-X
  • Lindorff, David. Killing Time. Common Courage Press, 2002. ISBN 1-56751-228-3
  • Williams, Daniel R. Executing Justice: An Inside Account of the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. St. Martin's Press, 2002. ISBN 0-375-76124-1

[edit] External links

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