Mumia Abu Jamal Fair Trial Essay - 1,254 words

On December 9, 1981, Wesley Cook, a. k. a. Mumia Abu-Jamal, was driving his taxi in Philadelphia when he saw that police had pulled his brother over. Jamal stopped to see why his brother was being pulled over. An altercation followed leaving Officer Daniel Faulkner dead and Jamal critically wounded.


Jamal is currently on Death Row awaiting execution. Jamal's trial was held in 1981 and since then there has been much controversy about whether the trial was fair or not. Much evidence has recently been brought forward such as witnesses were coerced and given favors, important defense witnesses and ballistics evidence were not allowed to be submitted to the jury, and Jamal's confession that was fabricated. It is imperative that Jamal gets a new and fair trial, what every citizen is promised by the U. S. Constitution, because of this evidence that could possibly free him.


Mumia Abu-Jamal's trial began on July 18, 1982 in Pennsylvania, where he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. A guilty verdict was returned at 5: 30 pm on Friday July 2, 1982. The State issued his death warrant on October 13, 1982 for an execution date of December 2 that same year, but Mumia was granted a stay of execution. Since then, there have been many people and groups that have been supporting Mumia and his fight for a fair trial, such as the band Rage Against the Machine. They held a benefit concert in the spring of 1999 to help raise funds for trial costs. There have also been numerous protests, marches, and even student walkouts by supporters.


On May 7, 2000, a very large fundraiser is being held at Madison Square Garden to raise more money to help this man get a new trial. One claim by the prosecution was that in the hospital, Mumia confessed to murdering Officer Faulkner to Officer Gary Bell. While lying nearly unconscious on the hospital emergency room floor Jamal exclaimed he had shot the deceased officer (referring to him as a mother censored er) and hoped that the officer would die (academia. org). This statement was a lie, though, now proven from other peoples statements. During the course of the trial, the jury never heard from Officer Gary Waksul, the officer who guarded Jamal at the hospital.


Waksul made and signed a report that stated We stayed with the male at Jefferson until we were relieved. During this time, the Negro male made no comments (ia center. org). Even others reported that Mumia made no comments in the emergency room such as the attending physician and Waksul's partner, P. O. Trombetta.


Trombetta stated that if anybody was in the position to hear an argument, it was his partner. When called as a defense witness, the prosecution argued that Waksul was on vacation and unavailable when in fact he was home at this time. Judge Sabo would not allow a continuance so the defense could locate him. Waksul's testimony was very important because it discredited the prosecution witness testimony of Priscilla Durham, who claimed to have heard the confession. P. O.


Waksul did not see Officer Bell among the officers who were present nor did he see any hospital employees close to Jamal. The police officers and hospital guards who claimed to have heard this confession did not make any reports of it until two months after it allegedly occurred and Jamal filed police brutality reports. His (Waksul) testimony would have shown that law enforcement and the prosecution itself, was willing to use perjured testimony to secure a confession (amnesty. org). There were several witnesses that claimed to have seen the shooting or to have been in the area at the time of it: Cynthia White, Robert Chobert, Veronica Jones, William Singletary, Despite ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: mumia abu jamal, p o, emergency room, fair trial, jamal

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