------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Sept. 12, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
WRONG MAN STILL IN JAIL: MUMIA ASKS COURT TO HEAR CONFESSED KILLER By Betsey Piette Philadelphia Lawyers for death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal filed an appeal Aug. 27 asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to invoke a little-used procedure for the court to directly hear testimony under oath from Arnold Beverly, an ex-mob hit man. Beverly has made a sworn deposition that he was hired to shoot and kill police officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981. Beverly has stated in a videotaped confession that Abu-Jamal had nothing to do with the shooting, for which he was convicted and is currently on death row in Pennsylvania. Beverly also promised that he is willing to testify in court whenever given the chance to do so. Prosecutors have refused to allow this crucial evidence to be heard. Courts on both the local and federal levels have blocked previous efforts to depose Beverly. The brief argues that Abu-Jamal is the innocent victim of a frame-up by corrupt police and organized crime, and demands his immediate release. At a news conference after filing the appeal and again at an evening Town Hall meeting for Abu- Jamal, attorneys Marlene Kamish and Eliot Lee Grossman provided more detail on the appeal brief. Abu-Jamal's appeal is based on the sworn statement of court stenographer Terri Maurer-Carter that at the time of the 1982 trial, she heard the trial judge, Albert Sabo, say in reference to Abu-Jamal: "Yeah, and I'm going to help 'em fry the n****r." According to Abu-Jamal's attorneys, the judge, who died earlier this year, never denied under oath having made the racist statement attributed to him by Maurer- Carter. When this was first brought to the court's attention in August 2001, Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe ruled that Sabo's racism was irrelevant and that Abu-Jamal had no right to an impartial judge. In appealing Dembe's outrageous ruling, Abu-Jamal's lawyers compared her decision to the pre- Civil War Dred Scott case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Scott, a Black slave suing for his freedom, "had no rights the white man is bound to respect." The brief quotes from the Dred Scott decision and commentary by Abu- Jamal on this historic case. At the evening Town Hall meeting, attorney Eliot Grossman stressed that, given Sabo's racist statement, it was obvious that no Black person could get a fair trial before a judge like that. "We presented evidence, the press covered Maurer- Carter's statement-the case should have been over," Grossman said. "But Dembe in effect ruled that Mumia did not have the right to a fair judge at his trial, and chose to ignore the evidence. "We searched for an historical example to make it clear what this actually means--this is the Dred Scott decision all over again," Grossman continued. "This is not only a case of abject racism, but we have evidence to prove his innocence-- a confession confirmed by lie detector tests--and the court made it clear that they don't care if he's innocent, they just want to keep him locked up." Grossman also reminded the audience that as a result of Judge William Yohn's ruling last year, Abu-Jamal is "legally off, but physically on death row." With both sides appealing Yohn's ruling, and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell, formerly the Philadelphia district attorney, promising to reinstate the death warrant if he is elected, public support for Abu-Jamal is more important than ever. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
