Facts emerge to back up Al-Amin’s charge of
frame-up
By S. Tomlinson
Atlanta
Prosecutors in the case against Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin,
formerly H. Rap Brown, have apparently made up their minds as
to his guilt--and nothing, not even evidence suggesting
another suspect altogether, can change their minds.
Not only do the authorities know of other evidence and yet
continue to pursue Al-Amin, who they accuse of the shooting
death of one sheriff's deputy and the wounding of another.
They are actually continuing this pursuit to the maximum
extent allowed by the law: the death penalty.
On May 31, a Superior Court judge held Fulton County
Sheriff Jackie Barrett in contempt of court for violating a
court order prohibiting the release of evidence in the case.
Barrett made public tapes of Sheriff's Department radio
traffic from the night Deputy Ricky Kinchen and his partner
Aldranon English were shot. The judge assigned no penalty to
Barrett, however, saying that the sheriff did not willfully
intend to violate the court order.
Barrett maintained she only released the tapes in order to
comply with open records laws. Whatever her intention,
Barrett's actions made available new details in a case filled
with questionable evidence and media distortions. The newly
released tapes only strengthen the argument that authorities
are trying to frame Al-Amin.
On the night of the shooting, the two deputies were in the
West End neighborhood of Atlanta to serve Al-Amin a warrant
for failure to appear--a relatively minor and non-violent
offense. Al-Amin is respected in the neighborhood for his
efforts to rid the area of drug dealers. He was also the
Imam, or prayer leader, of the community mosque.
The picture of what happened on the night of March 16 is
still blurry. But it is becoming clearer with each passing
week. At the time of the shooting, Deputy English radioed
that shots had been fired and Kinchen was down.
That night English stated that he had shot and wounded the
suspect. In the days after the shooting, there was much media
attention to this detail, and to the appearance of a fresh
blood trail a few blocks from the scene.
Once Al-Amin was in custody and it became apparent that he
was uninjured, the blood trail was dismissed as unrelated to
the case.
If authorities admitted that the blood trail were
relevant, that admission would tear at the very fabric of
their case against Al-Amin as the shooter.
The release of the tapes from the night of the shootings
has brought new information to light. Minutes after English's
first radio call, a man was seen five blocks from the
scene.
According to police records, someone called 911 and
reported an injured man near the scene of the shootings. The
dispatcher's log reads, "Caller advises perp in a vacant
building on Westview bleeding begging for a ride."
Atlanta police have not commented on this new detail. Nor
have they provided any further information about the bleeding
man or the 911 caller.
Authorities had released tapes of 911 reports from callers
about the wounded officers. But the call about the bleeding
man was not released.
Al-Amin's defense lawyers will certainly question the
identity and whereabouts of this bleeding person. Al-Amin's
only statement to the media thus far came shortly after being
placed in custody in Alabama before being sent back to
Atlanta. He called the case a "government conspiracy" against
him.
The knowledge that authorities have charged Al-Amin with
murder and intend to seek the death penalty even though they
have evidence of another suspect makes his assertion all the
more powerful.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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