Convicted Cop-Killer Abu-Jamal Granted Appeal, Widow of Slain Officer Eviscerates Judge
The widow of a slain police officer took a judge to task on Sunday during an interview with “Fox & Friends.”
Maureen Faulkner was clearly incensed, but frankly, given the circumstances, I’m stunned she wasn’t even more furious.
On Thursday, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker reinstated appeal rights to former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, according to WHYY-TV.
Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of the murder of Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. According to The Associated Press, Faulkner’s death occurred in Dec. 9, 1981.
Abu-Jamal spent decades on death row, becoming an international celebrity for anti-death penalty activists and leftists around the globe.
Idolized Cop Killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, May Get Another Trial https://t.co/glAXDQJY8T pic.twitter.com/GQ6hRhqpsu
— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) December 30, 2018
In 2011, however, the state of Pennsylvania agreed to limit the sentence to life without parole because of flaws in the original jury instructions, according to NPR.
According to Fox News, Abu-Jamal’s final appeal of his conviction was rejected in 2012.
Six years later, however, Tucker ruled that a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice involved in that sentencing should have recused himself.
Tucker found that former Justice Ronald Castille had exhibited potential bias in the ruling because of his prior position as Philadelphia district attorney when Abu-Jamal was filing earlier appeals.
Maureen Faulker absolutely took Tucker to task on “Fox & Friends” for his ruling. And as I mentioned above, it’s hard to blame her.
“I’m absolutely outraged with Leon Tucker. Tucker has no merit on this judgment. (Castille) had nothing to say about Mumia Abu-Jamal, he had no prejudice,” Faulkner said. “This is going to open the door for so many murderers to be able to do this and appeal this.
“Mumia Abu-Jamal shot my husband between the eyes, he executed my husband,” Faulker said. “I’m never going to let this go.”
Faulkner lamented what she perceived as the growing leniency for murderers in America.
“All over the country, they’re reducing sentences on murderers, they’re allowing them out of prison, and it’s wrong. It’s so wrong.”
Faulkner’s most searing response to Tucker made her feelings abundantly clear.
“To Judge Leon Tucker: I hope you can sleep at night with the decision you made, because you know it was not the right one,” Faulkner added.
According to the AP, Tucker had Faulkner removed from the courtroom when he rendered his verdict.
“Thirty-eight years!” Faulkner yelled immediately after Tucker’s ruling. “This is wrong!”
Abu-Jamal, a former taxi driver, Black Panther and radio host, killed Faulkner after a routine traffic stop gone awry. Daniel had gotten into a physical confrontation with William Cook, Abu-Jamal’s younger brother, during the stop. That’s when Abu-Jamal allegedly shot Daniel in the back and then in the face.
Abu-Jamal has long maintained his innocence and even wrote published a book,”Live from Death Row,” in 1996. To many leftists, Abu-Jamal has long since been a symbol of the need for criminal justice reform.
But for Maureen Faulkner, Abu-Jamal is a reminder of one of the most painful memories of her entire life, if not the most painful. And Judge Leon Tucker is drudging it back up in the worst possible way.
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