Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook April 24, 1954) is a journalist and political activist, most famous for his 1982 conviction and death sentence for the murder of Daniel Faulkner, a police officer, and for the subsequent mass campaigns for and against him. Technically, he had been awaiting execution in Pennsylvania from 1982 until December 2001 when Federal District Court judge William Yohn overturned Jamal's death sentence. However, Yohn reaffirmed Jamal's conviction, ruling that he will remain in custody indefinitely.

Disagreements about ballistics

Was Mumia's gun fired?

Although all five bullets in Abu-Jamal's gun were spent, the police didn't conduct forensic tests to ascertain whether the weapon had been fired in the immediate past. However, there is no conclusive test to determine if a gun has been fired recently. The "sniff" test on a gun is not considered forensic evidence, being subjective. The only forensic tests available are the nitrate tests, which only show that someone might have been near a gun while it was fired. Since Abu-Jamal had been shot at close range himself, a nitrate test would have provided no useful information.

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Abu-Jamal's hands and face were not tested or examined for the lead residue that would normally be present had he recently fired a gun. A lead residue test is a routine procedure in crime scene investigations where the suspect is apprehended at or near the scene of the crime and was conducted with at least one other suspect at the scene. However, the fact that Jamal had a bullet in his chest requiring immediate medical attention made such a test on Jamal insignificant in comparison to his need for immediate hospitalization. Jamal claims that he was beaten by police after the shooting but before he went to the hospital. Jamal was indicted shortly after he filed a complaint charging police abuse on the night of the shooting.

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Gun Calibre

Abu-Jamal's gun was a .38 calibre weapon, and Dr. Paul Hoyer, who performed the autopsy, wrote in his notes that the bullet removed from Faulkner's body was ".44 cal". However, he testified that this was merely a guess he made before actually performing the autopsy, and this guess was not included in the autopsy report, as he had no ballistics training.

Related Topics:
Gun - Calibre - Ballistics

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The court accepted Dr. Hoyer as a ballistics expert. However, during the 1995 PCRA (Post Conviction Relief Act) hearing, Judge Sabo contended that the medical examiner was "not a ballistics expert" like the two ballistics experts (including Jamal's own) who have since testified the bullets removed from officer Faulkner were consistent with being fired from the .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver which was registered to Jamal and found at the scene.

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The incorrect guess may be explained by the fact that the bullet was a +P, which leaves a larger wound.

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Mumia's supporters also claim that the discrepancy between Dr. Hoyer's notes and Mumia's gun calibre was never made known to the jury.

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Other points

Mumia's supporters claim that :

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• The prosecution maintained that Officer Faulkner turned and fired at Abu-Jamal as he fell to the ground after being shot. Therefore, the entry of the bullet into Abu-Jamal should have been on a level or upward trajectory. However, according to the medical records, the overall pathway of the bullet was downwards.