Note (2 July 2008): Since I have published this article ten months ago I have received some nasty comments via email. This article is not only about Abu-Jamal’s injuries. It also deals with accusations against the police. Are police officers fascist, racist pigs or are they honorable men and women in public service? The evidence available shows clearly that accusations regarding police brutality are simply not true. Maybe Abu-Jamal has been treated roughly but neither he nor his brother has been severely beaten.

When Mumia Abu-Jamal was at the crime scene, he has been injured by police. I do not mean the shot fired by Daniel Faulkner but injuries he sustained afterwards. These injuries did exist. Even police officers testified about these injuries.

William Cook has been injured at the crime scene, as well. In his case accusations are not that strong. The first time he mentioned injuries in public was his sworn declaration. Again, we know that he was injured. Again, the severity of those injuries is in question.

It is very important how severe these injuries have been. This question includes the question whether the accusations against the police can be justified. Again, the trial takes place in the court of public opinion. Again, the reader is a member of the jury. Again, the Internet is the main basis for evidence. Other sources shall not be excluded but meanwhile almost all items of evidence can be accessed through the web and many articles - important or not - have not been published anywhere else.

• Abu-Jamal’s Statement from 1982

On 3 July 1982 Abu-Jamal stated for the first time on the record that the abuse by police was an attempted murder.

On December the 9th, 1981, the police attempted to execute me in the street.
(Testimony of Mumia Abu-Jamal, 3 July 1982, p.16)

In general, his wording was not precise and he could have talked about the shot fired by Daniel Faulkner. In an interview before the trial he said that he has been a victim at that morning but did not talk about the alleged abuse by police. His complaint about police brutality has been filed some time after the murder. However, as soon as 21 December 1981 his injuries have been mentioned during a hearing before judge Ribner.

• Abu-Jamal’s Sworn Declaration

In his sworn declaration his words are not that strong but he is equally clear when complaining about abuse at the hands of police officers.

The next thing that I remember I felt myself being kicked, hit and being brought out of a stupor. When I opened my eyes, I saw cops all around me. They were hollering and cursing, grabbing and pulling on me. [...] I was pulled to my feet and then rammed into a telephone pole beaten where I fell and thrown into a paddy wagon. I think I slept until I heard the door open and a white cop in a white shirt came in cursing and hit me in the forehead. I don't remember what he said much except a lot of "n--ers","black mother-f-ers" and what not. [...] Then, it sounded like "I.D.'d" as "M-l" came on the radio band telling the driver to go to Jefferson Hospital. Upon arrival I was thrown from the wagon to the ground and beaten. I was beaten again at the doors of Jefferson.
(Declaration of Mumia Abu-Jamal, paragraphs 18-30)

The “white shirt” allegedly beating him in the paddy wagon was inspector Alphonso Giordano. Abu-Jamal claimed, Giordano has hit him in the face with his walkie-talkie.

• William Cook’s Sworn Declaration

William Cook only says that Daniel Faulkner has beaten him and afterwards he started bleeding profusely.

After that we went back and forth verbal confrontation. He pulls out a stick or some kind of object and slaps me in the head three times. By that time he had me on the side of the car, I started bleeding profusely. So I go back to my car to get my paperwork.
(Declaration of William Cook, paragraph 14)

• Robert Shoemaker

After arriving at the crime scene, Shoemaker observed Abu-Jamal reaching for something at his side. After he has walked one step closer he realized that this object was a gun. Therefore, he kicked Abu-Jamal and the weapon.

At this point I saw a two inch revolver approximately eight inches from his hand. I again ordered the male to freeze, which he did not, so before he grabbed the gun I kicked the male away from the gun. My heel contacted his throat area and the sole of my shoe hit him on the face.
(Testimony of Robert Shoemaker, 19 June 1982, p.116)

• Daniel Sobolosky

Supported by other police officers Daniel Sobolosky put handcuffs on Abu-Jamal and carried him to the paddy wagon. Since Abu-Jamal was struggling with the officers it was rather difficult to do so. At the beginning Abu-Jamal hit the sidewalk when they tried to put handcuffs on him. Afterwards they accidentally ran into a pole and dropped their prisoner.

Because of the struggle that ensued, Jamal hit the sidewalk with his head or the top part of his body so that I had to handcuff him behind his back. [...] During the course of picking him up he was still struggling, making it very hard for us to lift him up properly and take him to the wagon. All right, during the course of taking him to the wagon we accidentally ran into a pole because the pole [...] was in course with the back of the wagon. [...] As a result of that he came down and hit [...] his face on the ground [...]
(Testimony of Daniel Sobolosky, 19 June 1982, p.178-180)

• Cynthia White

Cynthia White’s account was not really clear. She saw police officers swinging at Abu-Jamal but did not see whether they made contact. Additionally, she said Abu-Jamal was resisting arrest.

What I see was Jamal sitting on the curb swinging his arms with closed fists and kicking, and the police swinging back and trying to get him under control to handcuff him. [...] I seen him [a policeman] swinging out. I don't know if he made any contact.
(Testimony of Cynthia White, 21 June 1982, p.149)

• Dessie Hightower

Dessie Hightower’s account is somehow similar to Cynthia White’s testimony. He said the apprehension was rather rough.

I thought they was rather rough apprehension. [...] I seen that when they pulled Jamal from around the back side of the Volkswagen, there was clear evidence of enough space to pull Jamal through. It was a no parking sign, a pole, there. And, it was enough space for them on the back side of the Volkswagen to that parking sign to get him through, but I don't know. Maybe it was just whatever he hit his head against the pole.
(Testimony of Dessie Hightower, 28 June 1982, p.130)

• William Singletary

Even though William Singletary told incredible nonsense about the crime, I don’t want to withhold his statements regarding Abu-Jamal’s injuries. His testimony still can be found as basis for some pro-Jamal statements. Singletary’s account shows a much higher level of violence than White’s and Hightower’s.

I went back around the corner and at that point they had a lot of police officers around the person that was beating him, kicking him, stomping him, sticking sticks in his wound, and just cursing, cursing, saying a lot of bad things. They drugged him on the street to the back of a van, threw him in the van. [...] No, they didn't just throw him in the van, they used his body and used him as a battering ram. And used him as a battering ram against the van.
(Testimony of William Singletary, 11 June 1995, p.238)

• Sharon Smith

Sharon Smith saw the crime scene from her bedroom window. According to her testimony she never saw anything that violent.

They were beating the black man with the dreadlocks with them sticks they carry. And with their feet. [...]
I thought he was going to die.
(Testimony of Sharon Smith, 9 August 1995, p.114/115&125)

• Dr. Regina Cudemo

Dr. Regina Cudemo observed Abu-Jamal for a short period of time after he has been brought to Jefferson hospital. Even though her vision was partly blocked by a counter, her testimony could describe a police officer kicking Abu-Jamal.

The policeman raised his leg, the black man raised his head, arms and right leg. There was a moan.
(Testimony of Dr. Regina Cudemo, 29 June 1982, p.24)

• Linn Washington

Yes, even Linn Washington has something to say. He was not there and he didn’t see anything but that’s still sufficient for a sworn declaration. For his statement I’m willing to give him an award for the most stupid declaration in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. On the other hand, I don’t want to hide his statement. (Within my comment about Abu-Jamal’s lawyers I've outlined why his declaration does not say a lot but nonetheless is a lie.)

An employee of the hospital told him that police were beating Abu-Jamal in the ER. Later he met a journalist who heard something similar. He does not provide any names.

[...] I have a recollection of seeing a hospital worker who knew me as a reporter and this person said that police were beating Mr. Abu-Jamal in the ER. [...] I saw two other reporters that I knew. It is my recollection that during a conversation with them one stated that he had talked with a person he knew in the hospital who told him of having seen police assault Mr. Abu-Jamal in the ER.
(Declaration of Linn Washington, paragraphs 31-33)

• Somewhere Between “Rough” And “Homicidal” ...

In total, testimony by witnesses can describe something like a rough apprehension (Hightower) which has been provoked by Abu-Jamal (White). In the worst case it describes severe abuse (Singletary) with the intention to kill (Abu-Jamal, Smith), and that abuse continued in the hospital (Cudemo, Washington). According to the police everything went on correctly and the injuries have been provoked by Abu-Jamal when he reached for his weapon (Shoemaker) and resisted arrest and transportation (Sobolosky).

Everything seems to be possible.

Police officers Shoemaker and Sobolosky admitted to the following:

• Shoemaker kicked him in the face
• While being handcuffed, Abu-Jamal fell on his face or upper part of the body
• While being carried to the wagon, he hit a pole and fell to the ground

The trial record documents the injuries quite thoroughly. For the first time they have been mentioned during a pre-trial hearing. Afterwards, Dr. Anthony Coletta testified regarding the injuries.

• Anthony Jackson’s Motion

During the pre-trial hearing on 21 December 1981 Anthony Jackson asked that photographs of his client will be taken. Abu-Jamal has sustained some injuries other than the gun shot wound. One of these wounds was a laceration on the forehead which required about eight stitches. Dr. Coletta could not remember the number of stitches when he testified in June 1982.

I think there were about eight stitches required to close a wound in the head, one of the wounds in the head. And there are some other injuries around and about his body.
(Anthony Jackson’s motion on 21 December 1981, p.4)

• Dr. Anthony Coletta

Dr. Anthony Coletta attended to Mumia Abu-Jamal’s injuries. As part of his testimony he described Abu-Jamal’s condition after arrival. In addition to the bullet wound in his chest he had a 4 cm long laceration on the left side of his forehead which eventually had been sutured, a laceration of his lower left lip, and some swelling over the left eye and on the right side of his neck and chin.

He had a laceration of his forehead of about four centimeters or so in length [...] in the left upper aspect of the forehead somewhere near the mid line of the head up near the hair line. [...] He had swelling over the left eye, a laceration of his left lower lip, and there was soft tissue swelling on the right side of his neck and chin. [...]
There was some blood on his face. He was not hemorrhaging from his head. [...] In other words, I didn't see active, ongoing bleeding from the lacerations. There was some oozing of blood, but there wasn't an extraordinary amount.
(Testimony of Dr. Anthony Coletta, 28 June 1982, p.58&61)

He was weak. He could move, but he was weak. (p.73)

Did this man look at all like he was pummeled or beaten up?
Pummeled? I would say, “No.” (p.92)

• Lydia Wallace

Lydia Wallace, Abu-Jamal’s older and only sister, says in the HBO documentary A Case For Reasonable Doubt, when she visited her brother in the hospital she was barely able to recognize him because he looked so terrible.

Anxiously I would have walked pass Mumia ‘cause I would not have been able to recognize him. I mean his forehead was gashed open and there was all blood. His lips was busted open and swollen and... And there were police officers in the room. And they had guns aimed on Mumia... Mumia was unconscious and I shook a shoulder and tried to arouse him. And... He said “I’m innocent. I’m innocent. They’re trying to kill me. They’re trying to kill me.”
(Lydia Wallace in A Case For Reasonable Doubt, ca. 1996)

• Policemen About William Cook

William Cook’s injuries never have been examined by a medical doctor. The only information about his condition came from police officers arriving at the crime scene and from police photos. These photos show a cut behind the left ear. Detective William Thomas described the content of these photos.

These are the photographs taken of Mr. William Cook on December 9, 1981. [...] They show a cut behind the left ear.
(Testimony of William Thomas, 26 June 1982, p.118)

• Daniel Faulkner's Flashlight

Daniel Faulkner's flashlight has been examined by criminalist Dr. Charles Tumosa.

The item is a flashlight seventeen inches long, serial number 50025682. The bulb is broken. No blood was detected on the item.
(Testimony of Dr. Charles Tumosa, 26 June 1982, p.36)

• Abu-Jamal in a Hospital Bed

Abu-Jamal does not look like a person severely beaten by police. The number and size of injuries is simply too small. The photo showing Abu-Jamal in a hospital bed illustrates why Dr. Coletta has denied categorically that he has been beaten up or pummeled. The available evidence clearly shows that the injuries are in accordance with testimony given by police officers. William Cook’s injury seems to have been equally marginal. The available data underlines that it has been one cut behind the ear only.

Whenever supporters of Abu-Jamal bring forward the fairy tale of police attempting to execute him in the street, they try to detract from what really has happened at the crime scene. It is very simple to say that police has brutalized Abu-Jamal, maybe illustrated by the account of a shady “witness” like Singletary, and putting all the blame on the police. Anyone who is that brutal is also capable of starting a conspiracy in order to frame an innocent man. However, the police did not brutalize Abu-Jamal and Abu-Jamal is not innocent.

Why no one of these supporters of Abu-Jamal tries to explain why Dr. Coletta testified that these injuries where marginal and the only published photo supports that testimony? Alternatively, these supporters could try to explain why his weapon containing five empty shells has been found on the sidewalk beside him instead of being in his shoulder holster containing five live rounds and why he did not mention this crucial fact in his sworn declaration. No one ever found a good explanation for this.