Maureen Faulkner, the widow of a slain Philadelphia police
officer and the author of Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice, asks that the Philadelphia District Attorney and other politicians keep her husband's killer in prison in a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Like thousands of others in America, my family and I are
political prisoners trapped by our legal system. We committed no crime, yet we
received life sentences with no possibility of parole or reprieve.
Thirty-seven years ago, Mumia Abu-Jamal murdered my husband,
Officer Daniel Faulkner, by shooting him point-blank in the forehead as he lay
unarmed and wounded on the sidewalk. Today we hear so many stories about
innocent cops being murdered; they seem as common as reports of bad traffic
accidents. Most law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty receive the
tears, concern, honor, and thanks they deserve, only to fade away in the
public’s consciousness to become sociology statistics.
On Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner will
have to fight to keep Danny’s guilty killer in prison. Mumia Abu-Jamal’s
attorneys will argue that past Philadelphia District Attorney Ron Castille
violated Abu-Jamal’s constitutional rights when, as a state Supreme Court
justice, Castille chose not to recuse himself from involvement in the state
Supreme Court’s reviews of Abu-Jamal’s many appeals in the 1990s. Because the appeals process can be skewed in
favor of convicted killers, Abu-Jamal and dozens of other guilty criminals have
been given a new tool with which to retroactively attempt to pick the lock on
the courtroom door that leads to freedom.
Gov. Wolf and Krasner have politicized the use of capital
punishment and life sentences in Pennsylvania, so for all practical purposes,
each of us who has lost a loved one to murder is a political prisoner.
Politicians have taken away the hope we once had that our suffering might finally
end when the person who murdered our loved one was put to death. Today,
thousands of survivors in Pennsylvania endure endless cruel and unusual
punishment in silence.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:
You can also read my Crime Beat column on Abu Jamal via the below link:
From RichardKane
ReplyDeletePhiladelphiaPA
Maureen Faulkner: Your husband was an honest cop in the middle of the 39th District Corruption Scandal. Wikipedia
mentions the following who also testfied in Mumia's trial or that of his brother Billy. Officer Faulkner may have had
good reason to roughly grill Billy and his partner Poppy (not Poppi's) criminal newsstand. However the up close bullet
point blank to your husband's head was ruled too mangled to tell if it came from Mumia's gun. If your husband lived to
testify more corrupt officer's would be in jail and a lot sooner.
The Feminist Wire Facts about the Mumia Abu Jamal case
relating to corrupt officers, but a more neutral source is Wikipedia 39th District Corruption Scandal
"The following members of the Philadelphia Police Detective's Special Narcotics Unit, also known as The Five Squad,
were convicted: Officer John Baird Lt. Frank Dubundo Sergeant Thomas DeGovanni Officer Steven Brown Officer
James Ryan Officer Thomas Ryan (police officer) (on leave from the PPD at the time of conviction). Officer Louis J.
Maier, convicted on separate charges of robbery and battery.
Other key figures Lynne Abraham, District Attorney. Pamela Jenkins (informant), paid PPD informant and key
government witness. James Dambach, Philadelphia Police detective credited with breaking loose the stalled federal
investigation. James Williamson, FBI agent who headed the investigation of the 39th District 5 Squad.
Volunteer private investigators have throughout the years worked to prove Mumia innocent, not interviewing and
grilling corrupt officers to find out who is guilty. It's now safe to do so. Also a head wound from point blank range still
may have bits of splattered blood on it. Had Mumia's powder test been suppressed, not forgotten it could have been the
lack of bits of Faulkner's blood on Mumia's gun.
I hope those who are responsible for the up close bullet are still alive and brought to justice.