Maureen Faulkner leads protest against Philly DA Krasner over Mumia Abu-Jamal appeals
Faulkner, the widow of slain officer Daniel Faulkner, accused the district attorney of “rolling over on appeals” and telling her “numerous lies and half-truths” since he took office last year.
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The widow of slain Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner rallied in Center City with more than 100 officers and supporters on Friday, urging District Attorney Larry Krasner to recuse himself and his office from appeals filed by her husband’s convicted killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Standing outside Krasner’s office, Maureen Faulkner accused the district attorney of having conflicts of interest in the case, “rolling over on appeals,” and telling her “numerous lies and half-truths” since he took office in January 2018.
“Krasner is a liar!” some of the protesters shouted.
Before she spoke, she delivered a letter to a supervisor in the District Attorney’s Office to give to Krasner asking him to recuse himself from the ongoing appeal by the man convicted of shooting her husband more than three decades ago.
On Sept. 18, Faulkner, who now lives in California, asked Superior Court if she could intervene in the case. She also asked the court to remove the Philadelphia prosecutor’s office from defending the guilty verdict against Abu-Jamal and to appoint the state Attorney General’s Office to represent the state’s interests.
Faulkner wrote that Krasner’s wife, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lisa Rau, was once a law firm partner with David Rudovsky, who represented Abu-Jamal in earlier appeals. She also noted that staffers in the District Attorney’s Office hired by Krasner previously advocated for Abu-Jamal.
The District Attorney’s Office, in a Tuesday filing, opposed Faulkner’s petition to intervene and disagreed with her contention that the office has a conflict of interest. Rudovsky said Tuesday that Rau’s prior connection with his firm did not present a conflict of interest.
In a Sept. 3 motion, Abu-Jamal lawyer Judith Ritter asked Superior Court to send the case back to Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker so that the defense could present what it contends is newly discovered evidence significant to Abu-Jamal’s appeal. The District Attorney’s Office, in a Sept. 17 filing, said it did not oppose Abu-Jamal’s motion to send the case back to Tucker.
Abu-Jamal, 65, is serving a life prison term for fatally shooting Officer Faulkner, 25, on Dec. 9, 1981.