Mumia Abu-Jamal (person)

At the time of his arrest, he had been dismissed from the local PBS affiliate for failing to follow proper journalistic procedure. He was disgraced and working as a taxi driver.

The reason he is in prison is because he was found lying next to a murdered cop with a pistol, registered in his name, lying near his hand. The weapon had clearly been fired several times, and fit the empty shoulder holster he was wearing. The bullets in the murdered cop's brain were a possible match to the gun near his hand. Even under the best circumstances, it's hard to beat a murder rap with evidence like that, even if the victim wasn't a cop. Mumia acted, with intention and forethought, in several ways that sabotaged his own defense after his arrest and during his trial.

Mumia Abu-Jamal acted to turn his trial into a circus. He demanded that he be represented by John Africa, leader of the notorious MOVE group, which was disliked and distrusted (if not actively hated) by the majority of Philadelphians for its outrageous behavior, ranging from throwing human waste on to the street to murdering a cop several years before. John Africa was not an attorney, and therefore not eligible to represent Mumia.

Much has been made of the fact that the judge, Albert Sabo in the case has sentenced more people to death than any other sitting judge in the US. In Pennsylvania, the jury decides whether to issue a death sentence or not. He has heard more cases where the jury chose death than any other sitting judge; this is due to the fact that since his appointment to the bench, in 1974, he has heard capital cases almost exclusively.

More has been made of the alleged incompetence of his court appointed attorney, Anthony Jackson. He came highly recommended by Mumia's friends. Prior to Mumia's case, he had defended 20 murder trials, and lost only six. On no prior occasion had he had a client sentenced to death. He resigned, professing an inability to mount an effective defense, due to Mumia's antics and verbal abuse of him, both inside and outside the courtroom.

These and other facts lead me to believe that there is a good chance that Mumia is guilty of the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner, and that he has played the justice system to create fame for himself. I have not seen the breadth or depth of evidence that a jury sees so I cannot say whether he is definitively guity, but the vast preponderance of the evidence I have seen leads me to that conclusion.

First: The Philadelphia PBS affiliate where Mumia worked was and is known for strong support for civil rights issues. He was dismissed for repeatedly and flagrantly failing to follow good journalistic practice.

Second: As any cop or criminologist knows, eyewitness testimony is in fact the least reliable form of evidence. It is possible to convict someone of murder based entirely on circumstantial evidence, even without the body ever being found. Just happened to a rich NYC plastic surgeon who was found guilty of murdering his wife in 1985 and dumping her from a plane over the ocean. Body never found, but he was convicted on a circumstantial case much weaker than that linking Mumia Abdul-Jamal to the murder of William Faulkner.

Third: The allegation that the jury was all white is pure fabrication by Mumiacs. It was in fact fairly representative of the racial mix in urban Philadelphia at the time of the crime.

Fourth: I said I believed that there is a good chance b/c I have not had the time or the patience to exhaustively review all the evidence. That's the jury's job, and they did it and came to not only the conclusion that he did it, but that his act met the standard to impose the death penalty.

Fifth: The Mumiacs will never accept a guilty verdict. It is an article of faith among his supporters that he is innocent. Any trial or court that finds otherwise is "biased". Apparently by the overwhelming evidence indicating his guilt.

Sixth: He was not a noted black activist prior to his arrest and conviction. This is a myth promulgated by his defenders. Most of his journalistic endeavours at PBS were in the fields of art and culture, not politics.

Seventh: Associating himself with MOVE was a) dumb and b) erased any possible sympathy I could ever have for the man. MOVE was and is a thuggish organization.

Eighth: The core of Mumia's support comes not from the black community itself but from middle-class, white, suburban college kids. They've picked Mumia as their chosen martyr, despite his almost certain guilt because he's good-looking and well-spoken. They ignore truly innocent black men on death row, who really didn't have competent representation, and who aren't mediagenic in favor of a guilty man who is. Tells you a lot about their depth of their views, doesn't it?

Update, 18 Jun 2001
Looks like Mumia has decided to go for the suicide by cop, deluxe package. In his last legally mandated appeal, he has ditched his defense team and gone for a frankly ridiculous witness who claims that he shot Officer Faulkner at the behest of crooked Philly cops. His story does not hold water; Mumia's previous defense team rejected the idea of using him completely. So Mumia ditched them and got some pliable although inexperienced defense attorneys to ladle this silliness onto a judge.