Publication Date: May 1, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1556527446 | ISBN-13: 978-1556527449 | Edition: First Edition
Sentenced to death in 1982 for allegedly killing a police officer named Daniel Faulkner, Mumia Abu-Jamal is the most famous death row inmate in the United States, if not the world. This book is the first to convincingly show how the Philadelphia Police Department and District Attorney’s Office efficiently and methodically framed him. Ittakes you step-by-step through what actually transpired on the night Faulkner was shot, including positioning each of the witnesses at the scene and revealing the identity of the killer. It also details the entire trial and fully covers the tortuous appeals process. The author, a seasoned crime reporter, writes in the language of hard facts, without hyperbole or exaggeration, unfounded accusation or finger-pointing, to reveal the truth about one of the most hotly debated cases of the twentieth century.
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Journalist O’Connor reopens the story of internationally known death-row-inmate Abu-Jamal, a crime reporter convicted in Philadelphia in 1982 for killing police officer Daniel Faulkner. Fans of true crime and police-procedural mysteries will enjoy the sequential logic of O’Connor’s case as he provides background and context for his assertion that the 27-year-old “brilliant” and gentle Abu-Jamal was framed. As a teenager Abu-Jamal was arrested and beaten by police for protesting a George Wallace rally; a year later he joined the Black Panther Party, seen by the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.” Closer to home were Philly’s then-mayor Frank Rizzo, the city’s concerted effort to neutralize a small radical movement called MOVE, and district attorney Lynne Abraham, “known as ‘The Queen of Death’ because of her zeal for seeking the death penalty.” Her prosecutors sent more than 100 Philly blacks to death row during her 16 years in office. A complex and compelling read that rivals established TV hits while tackling real-life injustice. --Whitney Scott
J. Patrick O'Connor was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1944. He graduated from the Univeristy of Missouri - Columbia in 1967 with a degree in English Literature. He was a reporter for United Press Internation in Portland, Oregon and Kansas City and he was UPI bureau manager in Topeka, Kansas. He was the editor of Cincinnati Magazine, an associate editor of TV Guide, and the editor and publisher on the Kansas City New Times, an alternative weekly. In 1998, he and J.J. Maloney founded the Internet site Crime Magazine (www.crimemagazine.com). In 2008, Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, published his book, The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal. In 2012, Strategic Media Books published his second book, Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and the Framing of Kevin Cooper. Since 1997, he has been working to establish the innocence of five innocent people convicted and sentenced to life without parole in the 1988 deaths of six Kansas City firefighters and is currently at work on a book about that case. He has been a guest speaker on the subject of our broken justice system at Santa Clara University School of Law, Southwestern School of Law - Los Angeles, Golden State University School of Law - San Francisco, Merritt College - Oakland, California, University of Pacifica McGeorge School of Law - Sacramento, Baruch College - City University of New York, City University of New York Graduate School, Trinity College - Hartford Connecticut, Central Connecticut State University - New Britain, Connecticut, and Wesleyan University - Middletown, Connecticut. He has lived in Naples, Florida since 2001.
This book is highly recommended. The anti-Mumia crowd always says "READ THE TRANSCRIPTS!". Well, J. Patrick O'Connor has thoroughly read all the transcripts and has concluded that the trial was blatantly unfair, Mumia was framed by police, and that he is factually innocent!
Strong words, huh? O'Connor backs it up. He confidently argues that the actual shooter was one Kenneth Freeman, as he details in his recent interview with me at my "Journalists for Mumia" website: Abu-Jamal-News.com. Check out this interview for a good preview of the book, as O'Connor lays out just how Mumia was "framed" and why he believes Kenneth Freeman was the actual shooter.
Many readers no doubt already believe that Mumia's guilty and had a fair trial. I truly hope these folks will have the courage to read this book and hear "the other side" for themselves. What can it hurt? Fortunately O'Connor is an excellent writer and the book is a smooth and easy read, tying together a controversial case that is rather complex.
This is a must read for anyone who wants to really know the facts of the case.
I knew little about the Mumia case and found this book an excellent, well organized summary of the evidence. O'Connor presented both the evidence against Mumia on which the jury verdict likely rested and the evidence that was overlooked or likely perjured. He also gave a candid account of the ways in which Mumia was his own worst enemy during the trial. All in all, I found that the book made a persuasive case that Mumia was innocent of the charge against him.
I've been interested in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case for some time, and Mr. O'Connor's book has filled what gaps there have been for me about this case. It is not often that I read a book and feel that the author's treatment of the subject is so thorough that there would not have to be another on it for very many years. This is how I feel about Mr. O'Connor's book. He answers every question anyone would ever want to ask about this case. Obviously, he is not only an excellent writer, but also researcher. Although I do certainly understand the grief of Officer Danny Faulkner's widow, Maureen, I do now think that American justice should give Mumia Abu-Jamal another trial.
Whether you believe Mumia Abu-Jamal killed Officer Faulkner or you believe he is innocent, do read this book.
