Why is Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison?
Why is Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison?Answer: Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of capital murder in the 1981 shooting death of Officer Daniel Faulkner of the Philadephia Police Department. He was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence is under review by appeals courts. Abu-Jamal’s conviction was controversial for a variety of reasons. The prosecution’s scenario rested on eyewitness testimony, all of which was problematic: • The prosecution’s star witness, who identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter, was a taxi driver who had hoped to use his testimony to leverage the terms of a prior drunk driving conviction. He later recanted much of his testimony. • Two security officers at a hospital claimed to witness Abu-Jamal loudly and conspicuously confess to the shooting as he was being wheeled in, despite medical and police reports indicating that he was unconscious at the time. • Other witnesses to the shooting included two prostitutes, both of whom were in a position to leverage their testimony
