Who is Mumia Abu-Jamal? Murnia Abu-Jamal is a renowned journalist from Philadelphia who has been in prison since 1981 and on death row since 1983 for allegedly shooting Philadelphia police offcer Dan Faulkner. He is known as the “Voice of the Voiceless" for his award- winning report- ing on police brutalty and other social and racial epidernics that plague communites of color in Philadelphia and throughout the world. Muia has received intemational sup- port over the years in his eforts to overturm his unjust conviction. Mumia Abu-Jamal was serving s the President of the Association of Black Journalists at the time of his arrest. He was a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party as a teenager. Years later he began reporting professionally on radio stations such as NPR, and was the news director of Philadelphia station WHAT Much of his jounalism called attention to the blatant injustice and brutalty he watched happen on a daily basis o MOVE, a revolu- tionary organization that works to protect all forms of fe~human, animal, plant--and the Earth as a whole The Scene n 1981, Mumia worked as a cab driver at night o supplement his income. On December 9th he was driving his cab through the red light district of downtown Philadelphia ataround 4 a.m. Mumia testifies that he let offa fare and parked near the comer of 13th and Locust Streels. Upon hearing gunshos, he turned and saw his brother, William Cook, staggering in the street. Mumia exited the cab and ran 10 the scene, where he was shot by a uniformed police offcer and fel to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Within minutes, police arrived on the scene to find Officer Faulkner and Mumia shot; Faulkner died. Mumia was arrested, savagely beaten, thrown into a paddy wagon and driv- en'to a hospital a few blocks away (suspi clously, it ook over 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital). Mumia somehow survived. The Trial The trial began in 1982 with Judge Sabo (who sent more people to death row than any other judge) presiding. Mumia wished to rep- resent himself and have John Afrca as his legal advisor, but before jury selection had finished, this right was revoked and an attor- ney was forcibly appointed for him. Throughout the trial, Mumia was accused of distupting court proceedings and was not allowed to attend most of his own tral. Sabo lived up to his nickname of “Prosecutor in Robes.” The Evidence “The prosecution daimed that the shot which killed Faulkner came from Mumia Abu-Jamal's legally registered .38-caliber weapon, contra- dicting the medical examiner's repor that the bulletremoved from Faulkner's brain was a A4-caliber. This fact was kept from the jury. Moreover, a ballistics expert found it incredible hat police at the scene failed o test Mumia's gun to see i has been recently fired, or [0 est fis hands for powder residue. One of the. most damning prosecution claims was that Mumia confessed at the hospital. However, this confession was not reported until nearly two months afer December 9th, immediately after Mumia had fled a brutality su against the police. One of the officers who claims to have heard the confession is Gary Wakshul However, in his police report on that day he. stated, “the Negro male made no comments.” Dr. Goletta, the attending physician who was. with Mumia the entire time, says that he never heard Mumia speak. The Witnesses The star proseculion wilness, a prostitule named Cynthia White, was someone no other witness reported seeing at the scene. During the il of Bily Cook (Mumia's brother) just weeks before Mumia's trial, White gave testi- mony completely contradictory to what she stated at Mumia’s trial. Her testimony at Bily Cook's trial placed someone at the scene Who was ot there when poiice arrved. This corroborates the other five witness accounts that someone fled the scene. In a 1997 hear- ing, another former prostitute, Pamela Jenkins, testifd that White was acling as a police informant. Other sworn testimony revealed that witness coercion was routinely practiced by the police. In 1995, eyewitness Wiliam Singletary testified that police repeat- edly tore up his inital statement-that the shooter fled the scene--unti he finally signed something acceptable to them. The following year, witness Veronica Jones came forward o testify that she had been coerced into changing her iniial statement that two men fled the scene. Witness Bily Cook, who was present the whole time, has stated very clear- Iy that Mumia is absolutely innocent. The Sentence Due to police manipulation of witnesses, fab- rication of evidence, and the rights of the defense severely denied, Mumia was found quily. He was sentenced to death during the penalty phase based solely on his poliical beliefs. Mumia has been unjustly separated from his family for twenty-two years, with the threat of death looming over his head. New Witnesses n 2001, court stenographer Terri Maurer- Carter came forward and stated that in 1982, before Mumia's tia began, she heard Judge ‘Sabo say, "Yeah, and ' going to help them fry the n**+*c” He was referring to Mumia This backs up evidence of judicial bias and racism in Mumia’s case. In the same year, esteemed Phiadelphia journalst Linn Washinglon stated that on the morning of December 9th, 1981, he went to the scene (o roport on it-and no police were present. This backs up prior claims that police didn't handle the crime scene properly. In 1999, Amold Beverly confessed to kiling Officer Faulkner. This confession is validated by a lie detector test administered by eminent polygraph expert Charles Honts. Despite con- crete evidence supporting this confession, the Philadelphia District Attorey has refused to investigate, and the courts have not even allowed it to be heard. The injustice continues. The Decisions On December 18th, 2001, Judge Yohn issued a decision on the Habeas Corpus peti- tion in Federal District Cour. He upheld Mumials unjust conviction, but challenged the sentencing phase (the death sentence) He ordered the State of Pennsylvania to commence new sentencing proceedings with- in 180 days and ruled that it s unconsiitu- ional to require that a jury' finding of circum- stances miligating against determining a sen- tence of death be unanimous Both the prosecutor and Mumia's attorney were unhappy with the decision and appealed On May 17, 2007, the Third Gircuit Court heard oral arguments regarding the reinstate- ment of the death sentence and an appeal from Mumia's aitomey stafing that the trial was unfair because of racial bias in jury selection. One year later, on March 27, 2008, the courts upheld the Yohn decision but denied the racil bias claim. Mumia attempted to petiion the courls for a reconsideration of the decision by the ful panel of twelve judges, but that request was denied. As it now stands, Mumia is still working through the appeal process and is rying o get a new trial. While the courts granied a new jury trial on the question of penalty fe or death, Mumia's attormeys want a tial wore the new evidence can be adited in evi- dence. They will work tirelessly unti they achieve that goal and his freedom. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Write to Mumia at: Smart Communications/PA DOC Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM8335 SCI Mahanoy Post Office Box 33028 St Petersburg, Florida 33733 Local groups supporting Mumia: NYC Anarchist Black Cross Post Office Box 110034 Brooklyn, New York 11211 nycabe@riseup.net nycabe.wordpress.com facebookitwitter/instagram @nycabc Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Post Office Box 16, College Station New York, New York 10030 info@freemumia.com freemumia.com twitter @MumiaAbuJamal New York City Jericho Movement Post Office Box 670927 Bronx, New York 10467 nycjericho@gmail.com jerichony.org Bring Mumia Home Campaign bringmumiahome @grmail.com bringmumiahome.com twitter @bringmumiahome Mumia Abu-Jamal Voice of the Voiceless Serving Life In Prison