------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the May 17, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- 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." - 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] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ 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]>
