New lawyers file affidavits
'Mumia didn't do it'
By Berta
Joubert-Ceci
Philadelphia
In a dramatic development, the new legal team representing
Mumia Abu-Jamal has filed three affidavits that deal directly
with what happened in Philadelphia on the night of Dec. 9,
1981, when the African American journalist was shot and Police
Officer Daniel Faulkner was killed.
Marlene Kamish of Chicago and Eliot Lee Grossman of Los
Angeles held a news conference in front of the Federal Building
here May 4 after filing a written notice of appearance in U.S.
District Court. They are now representing the internationally
known Black journalist, together with British Barrister
Nicholas R.D. Brown and Philadelphia attorney J. Michael
Farrell.
They had also filed the affidavits--from Abu-Jamal himself,
from his brother William Cook, and from a third person named
Arnold Beverly--as new evidence to support both a habeas corpus
petition and a request for an evidentiary hearing.
Attorney Kamish said at the press conference, "Mumia
Abu-Jamal has been in prison for 20 years. He's been on death
row isolated from family, from friends, from loved ones. All
that time he has maintained his innocence.
"He is innocent. And today we have filed in the court here a
sworn document by Arnold Beverly stating that he in fact is the
one who shot Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981, fully
vindicating Mumia Abu-Jamal. We have also filed a sworn
statement by his brother, William Cook, about his recollection
of the events of that night."
Kamish read a part of the new affidavit from Abu-Jamal that
says: "I, Mumia Abu-Jamal, declare: I am the Petitioner in this
action. If called as a witness I could and would testify to the
following from my own personal knowledge: I did not shoot
Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. I had nothing to do with the
killing of Officer Faulkner. I am innocent.
"At my trial I was denied the right to defend myself. I had
no confidence in my court-appointed attorney, who never even
asked me what happened the night I was shot and the police
officer was killed; and I was excluded from at least half the
trial....
"Now for the first time I have been given an opportunity to
tell what happened to me in the early morning hours of Dec. 9,
1981. This is what happened."
After describing the events that night, Abu-Jamal's
statement ends: "I never confessed to anything because I had
nothing to confess to. I never said I shot the policeman. I did
not shoot the policeman. I never said I hoped he died. I would
never say something like that."
William Cook's statement says: "Mumia was not holding a gun.
Mumia never intervened in anything between me and the cop. I
had nothing to do with the shooting or killing of the police
officer. My brother Mumia Abu-Jamal had nothing to do with
shooting or killing the policeman."
About Beverly, lawyer Grossman said: "The person who
actually shot Daniel Faulkner has come forward saying in a
sworn affidavit that he was hired to kill the police officer
because the police officer was interfering with the corruption
among the police and organized crime in Center City in the
1980s.
"We have interviewed this witness ourselves," said Grossman,
"and we feel satisfied that the affidavit is credible and we
believe our obligation is to come forward.
"Basically, Mumia was at the wrong place at the wrong time
when a hit was in progress against the police officer, who was
interfering with corruption among the police in
Philadelphia."
Arnold Beverly's statement says that, "I was hired, along
with another guy, and paid to shoot and kill Faulkner. I had
heard that Faulkner was a problem for the mob and corrupt
policemen because he interfered with the graft and payoffs made
to allow illegal activity including prostitution, gambling,
drugs without prosecution in the Center City area."
He finishes his statement: "I left the area underground
through the speedline system and by pre-arrangement met a
police officer who assisted me when I exited the speedline
underground about three blocks away. A car was waiting for me
and I left the Center City area."
This article is copyright under a Creative
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