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African American Prisoner on Death Row |
Mumia Abu-Jamal, an award winning African-American journalist and former Black Panther Party member, is known as the "Voice of the Voiceless." Targeted for his principled coverage exposing the racist brutality of the Philadelphia police and city authorities against the MOVE organization, he is now the only American political prisoner on Death Row. In a rush to silence Abu-Jamal and to fulfill campaign promises to begin executions, Governor Thomas Ridge of Pennsylvania signed Mumia’s death warrant setting the execution date for August 17, 1995. In the face of massive inetrnational protest, Judge Sabo ordered an indefinite stay of execution. In September, Mumia appealed for a new trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Judge Sabo denied Mumia’s appeal for a new trial on September 15th. Mumia’s defense team has filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There is no guarantee that the courts will move fast enough to see that Mumia’s appeals get pushed through. The stay of execution is indefinite and the appeals do not buy Mumia any more time. Governor Ridge has already promised to sign a second death warrant if Mumia’s latest federal appeal is denied. Meanwhile, the conspiracy to silence Mumia is very real: a former District Attorney involved in prosecuting Mumia is now one of the Supreme Court Justices who will decide on Mumia’s federal appeal.
On December 9, 1981, Mumia Abu-Jamal was driving his taxi cab around 13th and Locust Street when he saw a police officer, Edward Faulkner, beating a black man with a flash light. When Mumia realized the man being beaten was his own brother, William Cooke, he ran out of the car and rushed to the scene. What happened next remains unclear. According to eye witnesses, someone shot Officer Faulkner and then fled. Mumia was also shot in the abdomen. Witnesses maintain that Mumia was beaten at the scene and while being transported to the emergency room. Hospital staff have stated that several attempts were made by Philadelphia police officers to kill Mumia in the hospital. The state argued Mumia’s guilt and quickly pushed the case to trial despite his massive injuries. Mumia was found guilty and was sentenced to death row during the penalty phase of the trial. Irrelevant and un-Constitutional evidence regarding Mumia’s politicial affiliations and activist background were introduced in the penalty phase to convince jurors that Mumia was dangerous and that he deserved to die.
In the fourteen years since Mumia’s conviction, new evidence has been uncovered regarding Mumia’s innocence. This evidence was purposefully excluded from the trial in 1981. Mumia did not have adequate legal representation or financial support to defend his case. The prosecution made eleven pre-emptory challenges to exclude all but two blacks from the jury. Two of the jury had close family members and friends who had been on the Philadelphia police force. No murder weapon was found. The bullet that shot Officer Faulkner was .44 caliber. Mumia’s licensed gun was .38 caliber. Simple tests to see whether Mumia shot the officer, like smelling his hand or gun, were never performed. Mumia was not given money to hire ballistics experts and private investigators. He had no means to uncover and introduce this evidence. Key witnesses were intimidated and coaxed to change their testimony to support the prosecution. Many witnesses were bribed and favors were promised them if they testified against Mumia. Mumia was denied the right to represent himself in court and was given a court-appointed lawyer who openly stated that he did not want to defend the case. In later stages of the trial, Mumia was banished from the courtroom and could not defend himself.
"Hanging" Judge Albert Sabo has presided over Mumia’s trial. Sabo has handled fewer homocide cases than many other judges sitting in the bench in Philadelphia, yet he has set a nationwide record: Judge Sabo has sentenced more people (thirty-one total) to death than any other judge in the country. The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is known nationally as a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization. The FOP has directly interfered during court proceedings going as far as to pay a silent visit to the judge presiding over Mumia’s case before Sabo was assigned. Governor Thomas Rdige of Pennsylvania has campaigned on a pro-death penalty platform. Since he came into office, he has signed nineteen death warrants and has allotted $871 million dollars to build more prisons.
From 1978 to 1985, the MOVE organization was subject to harrassment by the Philadelphia police, culminating in the bombing of the MOVE house in 1985, leaving eleven dead, including five children. Mumia, a radio journalist at the time, was the sole voice in reporting MOVE's side of the story. Seven hundred pages of FBI files reveal that Mumia was targeted for this truthful reporting. Philadelphia, at the of the MOVE massacre and Mumia’s trial, was burning with racial tensions, violence and oppression.
The Philadelphia Police Department has historically been known to be a corrupt and excessively violent organization. In 1979, the US Department of Justice sued the entire Police Department because of its violent and brutal assaults on people of color in the community. In the past few months, a public interest group has researched arrest histories of nine Philadelphia police officers. These histories showed that over the past nine to ten years, several police officers used similar falsified evidence in case after case to arrest and convict innocent people. In view of the newer evidence uncovered in Mumia’s case, it is reasonable to assume that the Police Department is directly involved in purposefully levying false charges against Mumia. Several more police officers are implicated in the scandal.
Attend the rally in front of the Campus Center from 1-3 pm on Saturday April 13, 1996. Contact Sohera Syeda, x6192 or Leah Sieck, x3518. Call on US Attorney General Janet Reno to initate an investigation into the violation of Mumia’s federal civil rights by the state of Pennsylvania. (Main Justice Bldg., 10th & Constitution Ave., Washinton DC, 20053. 202-514-2001) Call, write or fax Governor Thomas Ridge and insist that he not sign another death warrant. (Main Capitol Building, Room 225, Harrisburg PA 17120. 717-783-1198. fax 717-783-1396) Let the Pennsylvania Supreme Court know that Mumia must have a fair trial without Judge Sabo. (Justice Robert Nix, Jr., Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Widener Bldg., 500 One South PennSquare, Philadelphia PA 19107. 215-580-3071) For more information, call the International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, 215-476-8812.