Final arguments made in trial of Abu-Jamal

In highly impassioned and dramatic pleas for justice, the attorneys trying to convict and acquit Mumia Abu-Jamal summed up their cases yesterday with sharply conflicting versions of who killed police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Common Pleas Court Judge Albert Sabo said he would explain the law regarding first-degree murder this morning, and give the case to the jury by afternoon.

The final arguments painted two different pictures of Abu-Jamal, a former radio news reporter particularly well-known in the black community. He is accused of killing Faulkner after the officer stopped Abu-Jamal's brother, William Cook, at the corner of 13th and Locust Streets around 4 a.m. Dec. 9.

To prosecutor Joseph McGill, Abu-Jamal was a violent and hostile man who shot Faulkner in cold blood, first in the back and then in the face, while Faulkner was lying wounded on the ground. Four people saw him do it, McGill said, and three identified him within one hour.

In his final words to the jury, McGill knelt and looked up - in a position he said was similar to that of Faulkner when he was shot - and said to the panel, "The conduct of this defendant, the thrust of such arrogance and hostility and injustice, it demands action."

To defense attorney Anthony Jackson, however, Abu-Jamal was a victim like Faulkner, a "peace-loving man" who happened to be on the scene when either his brother or someone else shot Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was also shot in the chest that night, and his doctor said he almost died.

"Looking at the inconsistencies in the evidence, you'll know that Mumia Abu - Jamal did not shoot officer Faulkner," Jackson said. " It's not your responsibility to determine who did - just to conclude that, based on the evidence, he did not."

Jackson stressed what he called major differences between what several witnesses originally told police and what they later testified to. He also attacked the credibility of the self-admitted prostitute Cynthia White, a key eyewitness who, he suggested, received special treatment by police because of her testimony.

The Police Department decided early on that Abu-Jamal was the assailant, Jackson contended, and did not pursue other leads as a result. "Did they want Jamal because he is a well-known journalist, primarily in the black community?" Jackson asked.

Trying to deflect some of the more damaging testimony against Abu-Jamal - testimony that he boasted of killing Faulkner while being led to a hospital emergency room - Jackson concluded by saying, "When he thinks he's dying, would love of your brother allow you to say that you were the one ( who did the shooting )?" Cook, Abu-Jamal's brother, also was arrested at the scene.

McGill strongly attacked Jackson's contention that Abu-Jamal had been singled out because of his prominence, saying that "if this was a grand conspiracy for some God- knows-what reason, it was made up pretty quickly. These statements were given within an hour."

In presenting his case, McGill relied on the testimony of eyewitnesses who said they saw some or all of this scenario: Abu-Jamal ran across Locust Street, shot Faulkner in the back, and then stood over the wounded officer and fired several more times.

Three of the witnesses said they didn't lose sight of the man they saw running across Locust Street until he was taken to a police wagon. It was there that they identified Abu-Jamal.

McGill said these witnesses were the key to the case, and he ridiculed defense efforts to find inconsistencies between their slightly different versions of the events. McGill referred particularly to a comment by witness Robert Chobert, a taxi driver, who said he had watched Abu-Jamal from the shooting to the police wagon, except for a brief moment when he turned around.

Jackson attacked Chobert about his turning around and asked how he knew the man in the wagon was the man he saw. Replied Chobert, "What did he do, fly away?"

If the jury does find Abu-Jamal guilty of first-degree murder, then it will be asked to decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.