Mumia Abu Jamal Essay Research Paper Near

Mumia Abu Jamal Essay, Research Paper

Near 4 AM on December 9, 1981 Mumia Abu-Jamal was working a second job as a nighttime cab driver in the hope of making additional money for the upcoming holiday season. He was driving west on Locust St. when he saw that his brother’s Volkswagen had been pulled to the side of the road by a Philadelphia Police cruiser. Mumia pulled into a parking garage on the North side of Locust so he could question his brother to make sure he wasn’t in any trouble. After emerging from the parking garage he saw Officer Daniel Faulkner holding his brother “spread eagle” over the hood of the squad car, bludgeoning him with what appeared to be a flashlight. Eyewitness Mark Scanlan, who was on the northwest corner of 13th and Locust collaborates this story saying he saw Faulkner spin Jamal’s brother around and throw him against the hood. He said that Jamal’s brother then turned back around and struck the police officer at which point Faulkner proceeded to strike Jamal’s brother. After arriving on the scene officers found Faulkner’s flashlight, broken and covered in blood propped against the curb. One officer also noted that Jamal’s brother had a deep laceration on his temple.

Upon seeing this scuffle, Mumia broke into a run to cover the distance between the parking garage and the squad car. It was 4 AM, it was dark, Officer Faulkner had just been “assaulted” by a suspect in a neighborhood that wasn’t known to be police friendly, and now another black male was running in his direction from across the street. We can only speculate as to what happened next. None of the witnesses called to trial saw who shot whom first. A series of gunshots erupted on the scene, at least five in all, and both Mumia Abu-Jamal and Officer Faulkner dropped to the ground. Mumia recovered, Faulkner did not.

Afterwards no less than five eyewitnesses originally testified to seeing somebody flee the scene. They all agreed that he was approximately 6′2 and 220 pounds. They all agreed that he was black and wore dreadlocks. They all agreed that he fled east, on the south side of Locust towards an alley that runs south of Locust, incidentally a perfect get away route for a prospective criminal. Eyewitness Dessie Hightower stated that he also saw a man, “possibly a Jamaican”, sitting in the VW that Officer Faulkner had pulled over. No investigation into this individual was ever made.

Police were on the scene less than a minute later. When they arrived they found Officer Faulkner dying from a gunshot wound to the head. They also found Mumia Abu-Jamal sitting on the curb in front of the squad car dejectedly saying, “I’m shot, I’m shot. Oh my God, I’m shot.” They recovered two weapons at the scene, Officer Faulkner’s police issue revolver and a .38 caliber pistol that was registered to Mumia Abu-Jamal. It seemed like an open and shut case. Black man sees his brother being attacked by a white cop, shoots the white cop, and gets shot himself. Perhaps the most surprising discovery to be made in the next six months was that the bullets that struck Officer Faulkner were not fired from a .38 caliber pistol. Instead, a man that would have to have been standing directly behind Officer Faulkner fired them from a .45 revolver. Stunning evidence that when coupled with eyewitness testimony claiming to see another black male, with dreadlocks, flee the scene, could exonerate Jamal. Additionally, the driver’s license of yet another unidentified black male was found on the corpse of Officer Faulkner. Unfortunately, the police and the District Attorney of Pennsylvania suppressed this evidence.

Mumia Abu-Jamal’s trial was a sham from the beginning. The judge assigned to the case was Albert Sabo, the man who put a whopping 31 people on death row, accounting for over 25 percent of Pennsylvania’s death row population at the time. Of these 31, 29 of them are black. Judge Sabo, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the fraternal order of police, the National Sheriff’s association, and the Police Chief’s Association of Southeast Pennsylvania, served as the Under Sheriff of Philadelphia County for 16 years before ascending the bench; certainly evidence of a pro-cop bias. In addition, many believe that Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo handpicked Judge Sabo to preside over this case. Remember that Mumia Abu-Jamal was a prominent black journalist, nationally renowned for his indictments of the Rizzo administration, the fraternal order of police, and police misconduct in the city of Philadelphia. Also, in the November 1, 1983 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer (not the gossip magazine, National Enquirer) over one third of attorneys surveyed rated Judge Sabo as unqualified to preside over death penalty cases. After hearing this Judge Sabo curtly remarked, “If I were a defense attorney I wouldn’t vote for me either,” a clear indication of his general pro-prosecution outlook regarding capital cases. Lastly, Judge Sabo’s rulings in capital cases have been reversed 11 times, giving him the national record in two rather dubious respects. Judge Sabo has sentenced more people to death than any judge in the country. He has also had his sentences overturned more than any other judge in America. Judge Albert Sabo has more than earned the title of “hanging judge” in this new era of crime prevention.

Initially Mumia was granted the right to represent himself. Given his high intelligence he