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Cop’s Widow Reacts to Third Circuit Court of Appeals Granting Convicted Murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal a New Sentencing Hearing
(Thursday, March 27th, 2008)
For Immediate release -- Maureen Faulkner, widow of slain Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner, released the following statement in response to today's U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals' decision granting Mumia Abu-Jamal -- the man convicted in 1982 of cold-bloodedly gunning down her husband -- a new sentencing hearing:
"Today, after 26 years of waiting, my family and I can finally say that Mumia Abu-Jamal is officially a 'murderer.' No longer can Abu-Jamal's minions pronounce that he was wrongly convicted or that his trial was unfair in any way. While Abu-Jamal's life may be spared due to a legal technicality -- the wording on a standardized jury form -- all of his arguments about judicial bias, prosecutorial misconduct and police
malfeasance have been rejected as lies and nonsense by the second-highest and most impartial court in the land. In the end they have ruled that Abu-Jamal is a common killer who is guilty of murdering my husband. While we still hope to one day see Mumia Abu-Jamal executed for the heinous and cowardly crime he committed, we are heartened by the decision made today by the Third Circuit Court, bringing my family and me one giant step closer to the end of this painful journey. There will undoubtedly be more appeals and more ridiculous claims made by Abu-Jamal and his band of attorneys, but we are committed to staying the course until we are finally afforded the closure promised to us by a jury 26 years ago."
Maureen Faulkner -- along with co-author Michael Smerconish -- recently
penned the New York Times best-selling book, Murdered By Mumia: A Life
Sentence Of Loss, Pain and Injustice (The Lyons Press), as a vehicle to
definitively present the facts of the case along with her personal side of
the story.
Adds Smerconish, "The federal courts have firmly rejected every single
argument advanced over a quarter century by Abu-Jamal as to his proclaimed
innocence. Now, he will never get out jail. I am disappointed only in that
this decision rejects the jury's wish as to sentencing based on a
technicality. The idea that life or death for a cop killer should rest on
how many words removed 'mitigating' was from 'unanimous' on the jury form
is asinine."
Both authors' proceeds from the book were donated to the nonprofit
organization, Justice For Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, which provides
educational grants to Philadelphia children whose parents were the victims
of murder.
Fox News - O'Reilly Factor
CBS 3 News Philadelphia
MSNBC - Morning Joe
Mumia Abu Jamal: 26 years later
December 6th 2007, see Maureen and Michael on the Today show interviewed by Matt Lauer
Police widow’s fight for justice
All author proceeds go to charity
PROCEEDS FROM MURDERED BY MUMIA
Neither Maureen Faulkner nor Michael Smerconish are accepting any of the proceeds from the sale of the book "Murdered By Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice." Instead, any income from our three year investment in the writing of the book will be a charitable donation.
All author proceeds from the book will go toward Justice for Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, the 501c(3) non-profit originally organized by Maureen in 1998 to honor Danny's memory and to combat the propaganda of those apologizing for the man convicted of killing her husband.
Since then, she has expanded the mission of that entity, and now makes scholarship grants to the children of murder victims in the City of Philadelphia. Lord knows, there are plenty of potential recipients of her generosity which is itself a silver lining to the execution of her husband 26-years ago.
Because of advance sales, on December 10, 2007, $170,000 will be dontated to her non-profit. This money will then be directed to the educational needs of Philadelphia youth who have lost a parent to violence.
- Content taken from www.mastalk.com, written by Michael Smerconish.
