When the Philly cops, the officials of the Fraternal Order of Police, and the state attorney general are not busy committing crimes and being indicted themselves, they all love to talk about how strong the case against Mumia Abu-Jamal is. To hear them tell it, the evidence against Mumia is just "overwhelming."
So what does this overwhelming case consist of? The state's case against Mumia consists of three points. First, they allege that they have three eye-witnesses who saw Mumia commit the crime. Second, they claim that Mumia "confessed" to the shooting. And third, they claim that Mumia's legal gun found at the scene was the murder weapon.
The government's "star witness" was Cynthia White, whom other witnesses said was not even there! Ms. White is the only witness who claimed Mumia had a gun in his hand. Ms. White continually changed her story and volunteered to testify for the police because she had 38 previous arrests for prostitution and three pending cases at the time of Mumia's trial. In return for her "cooperation," Ms. White was given the privlege of continuing to work as a hooker with plainclothes police assigned to "protect" her as a witness.
The second withness was Robert Chobert. On the night of the incident, Chobert described a totally different individual to police as the shooter, an individual who ran away. At the trial, however, Chobert changed his story to insist that Mumia was the shooter. It is not known what Chobert received in return for his testimony.
The third witness, Mark Scanlan, told police at the scene that Mumia had been driving a Volkswagon, obviouly confusing Mumia with his brother. Scanlan, who admitted that he had been drinking that evening, also contradicted the official police version that Officer Faulkner fell down after being shot.
What the prosecution doesn't like to talk about are all the more credible witnesses who described a totally different person as the shooter, who subsequently escaped by running down the street (something that Mumia was in no condition to do after being shot.)
The second point of the prosecution case is the allegation that Mumia shouted out at the hospital that he had done the shooting. This story is a total fraud (see Fact Sheet No. 1). It was not even made up until two months after Mumia's arrest, when Mumia filed police brutality charges. This claim is denied by hospital personnel as well as by the arresting officer who wrote in his report that Mumia made no statements. During Mumia's trial, this police officer was allowed to go on "vacation" so that he would not be available to refute the "official story."
To believe this yarn we must believe that a trained court reporter like Mumia made a voluntary incriminating statement without a lawyer present, and a police officer and hospital guard who knew the victim personally didn't think this was important enough to mention to anyone for two months!
The third point of the prosecution case is the so-called ballistic evidence. The prosecution stated that the bullets removed from the slain officer were too badly damaged to be identified. But police made no test to ascertain if Mumia's gun had been fired or whether Mumia had fired a gun. The medical examiner thought the wounds came from a larger caliber gun than the one possessed by Mumia. And the angle at which Mumia was shot makes it impossible that he was shot while standing over the officer as the prosecution claims.
In short, the state's "overwhelming" case against consists of a lot of nothing. What is clear is that the state wants Mumia executed for political reasons. At a time when the government is clamping down and cutting off the very ability of people to survive, an articulate revolutionary voice like Mumia's is considered too dangerous.
SOURCE: Petition for Post-Conviction Relief filed with the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, June 5.
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