1982 trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal
This article describes the events of the 1982 trial which resulted in the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal for first-degree murder pursuant to the finding that he was criminally responsible for the December 9, 1981 killing of Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) officer Daniel Faulkner.
His conviction resulted in him receiving the sentence of death.
Execution of the sentence has been stayed as a result of ongoing legal maneuvers on his behalf and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A 2001 United States District Court ruling affirmed his conviction and directed the Commonwealth to conduct resentencing. That ruling has been appealed to the United States Court of Appeal by both parties.
Background
|
|
| Mumia Abu-Jamal topics |
|---|
| Biographical |
| Mumia Abu-Jamal |
| 1982 murder trial |
| Campaigns |
| Free Mumia · Legal campaign |
| Writings |
| Live from Death Row |
| Key persons |
| John Africa · Arnold Beverly |
| William Cook · Daniel Faulkner |
| Kenneth Freeman · Arnold Howard |
| Pamela Jenkins · Albert Sabo |
| Leonard Weinglass |
| Associations |
| BPP · MOVE · NPR |
| Partisan Defense Committee |
| PABJ · Prison Radio |
| Issues and allegations |
| Actual innocence · "Batson" racism |
| False evidence · Recusal |
| Merits of capital punishment |
| Misconduct: Police · Prosecutorial |
| Rights of the accused |
| Death penalty |
| AEDPA · Debate · Lethal injection |
| Prohibited punishment · US overview |
| Category: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 Wiliam Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. Whether or not Abu-Jamal, who was sitting in a taxicab nearby, intervened or merely got out of his cab to see what was going on is disputed.
Attending police reported discovering Daniel Faulkner dead, with Mumia Abu-Jamal lying nearby with a bullet in his chest. A gun registered to him was a few feet away, containing five spent shell casings.[1][2] Abu-Jamal was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to a hospital, and treated for his injury.
James Forbes and Robert Shoemaker were the first police officers in attendance at the scene; others who arrived included Officer Vernon Jones and Detective Edwin Quinn. The senior PPD official at the scene was Inspector Alfonzo Giordano, then chief of the department's Homicide Division.
Police investigators spoke with 125 people who were in the general vicinity of 13th and Locust in the early hours of December 9, 1981.
Venue and timeframe
The trial was held from June 17 to July 3, 1982 at Philadelphia City Hall.[3]
Judge
The presiding judge was Albert F. Sabo.[4]
Court stenographer Terri Maurer-Carter stated in an
Jury
The racial composition of Philadelphia at the time of the trial was 40% African American. At least two and possibly three jurors were black, as was a fourth who was later dismissed.
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, declined to find that racial bias in jury selection either existed or was sufficiently problematic as to necessitate the ordering of a retrial. The same issue was raised in higher appeal, again unsuccessfully, to the United States District Court.[6]
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 and prior personal acquaintance between the two.
Jackson petitioned the Court to have the case assigned to him at public expense, to which the Court consented.
Abu-Jamal asked to represent himself, to which the Court also consented. After disruptive actions which necessitated his removal from the courtroom thirteen times, Jackson was reinstated as the sole advocate for the defense.[7]
Abu-Jamal repeatedly asked to be represented by, or at least assisted at counsel table by John Africa. The court refused, on the grounds that Africa had no legal training and was thus barred by law and by custom from enjoying the privilege of a seat at the counsel table. It compromised to permit Abu-Jamal to confer with whomever he pleased during its 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 was his attorney-of-choice.
The defense expended $13,000 to analyze evidence and to hire expert witnesses.[citation needed]
Prosecuting counsel
Joe McGill prosecuted on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[8]
Evidence
Witnesses
The main eyewitnesses who testified at the trial include four 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.
Three witnesses provided testimony stating that they witnessed the shooting of David Faulkner, and identifying the shooter as Abu-Jamal:
- Robert Chobert – employed as a taxicab 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 behind 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. Scanlon testified that he had consumed a few drinks at a party before the incident, rejecting the suggestion that he was drunk. He testified that he saw Faulkner in the process of making an arrest on a suspect when the suspect suddenly turned around and punched Faulkner. He testified that in the ensuing struggle, another man whom he identified as Abu-Jamal, ran across the street and shot Faulkner in the back, then firing more shots into Faulkner after the latter had fallen to the ground. He only identified Jamal by his clothing and said he didn't see Faulkner returning fire at any point, as his attention was not focused on Faulkner's hands.
- Cynthia White, a prostitute– she was standing at the corner of 13th and Locust.
Some witnesses report that Abu-Jamal proclaimed:
| “ | "I shot the motherfucker and I hope the motherfucker dies" | ” |
while being treated for his wounds at the hospital.[9] They were:
- Gary Bell, PPD officer. He testified to having heard Abu-Jamal's confession and failing to include reference to it in written reports by reason of his emotional devastation.
- Priscilla Durham, a hospital security guard – She testified to having reported the confession 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.[10]
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
The court accepted Dr. Hoyer as a ballistics expert. However, during the 1995 Post-Conviction Relief Act (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.
Ballistics tests performed on the bullets confirmed that Daniel 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.
George Fassnacht, a ballistics expert for called by the defense, did not dispute those findings.
Verdict
The jury return a verdict of guilty after three hours of deliberations.
Sentence
Mumia Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death by the unanimous agreement of his jury.
Subsequently,
References
- ^ CNN.com/Law Center - Developments in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case
- ^ DC Indymedia - Mumia Reconsidered
- ^ http://www.danielfaulkner.com/docs/SummaryofCaseFacts.pdf See p.2
- ^ http://www.danielfaulkner.com/docs/SummaryofCaseFacts.pdf See p.2
- ^ http://www.labournet.net/mumia/0109/terrimc.html
- ^ http://www.laboractionmumia.org/docs/021_YohnRuling.rtf December 2001 ruling by Judge Yohn of the US District Court
- ^ http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2000/02/mumia.html
- ^ http://www.danielfaulkner.com/docs/SummaryofCaseFacts.pdf See p.12
- ^ http://www.danielfaulkner.com/docs/Transcriptfrom20_20.pdf See p.4
- ^ Declaration of Kenneth Pate
|
|
| Mumia Abu-Jamal topics |
|---|
| Biographical |
| Mumia Abu-Jamal |
| 1982 murder trial |
| Campaigns |
| Free Mumia · Legal campaign |
| Writings |
| Live from Death Row |
| Key persons |
| John Africa · Arnold Beverly |
| William Cook · Daniel Faulkner |
| Kenneth Freeman · Arnold Howard |
| Pamela Jenkins · Albert Sabo |
| Leonard Weinglass |
| Associations |
| BPP · MOVE · NPR |
| Partisan Defense Committee |
| PABJ · Prison Radio |
| Issues and allegations |
| Actual innocence · "Batson" racism |
| False evidence · Recusal |
| Merits of capital punishment |
| Misconduct: Police · Prosecutorial |
| Rights of the accused |
| Death penalty |
| AEDPA · Debate · Lethal injection |
| Prohibited punishment · US overview |
| Category:Mumia Abu-Jamal |
|
|
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
