| Category: | Book Reviews |
|---|---|
| Subcategory: | True Crime |
| Price: | $24.95 |
| Average Rating: | |
| Description: | Maureen Faulkner's husband, Philadelphia police office Danny Faulkner, was shot between the eyes on a cold December night in 1981. Mumia Abu-Jamal was unanimously convicted of the crime by a racially mixed jury based on: the testimony of several eyewitnesses, his ownership of the murder weapon, matching ballistics, and Abu-Jamal's own confession. After his conviction, however, a national anti-death penalty movement was started to "Free Mumia;" Mike Farrell, Ed Asner, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jesse Jackson rallied on his behalf, and led the charge. For his part, while on death row, Abu-Jamal published several books, delivered radio commentaries, was a college commencement speaker, found himself named an Honorary Citizen of France, and had his defense coffers enhanced by ticket sales from a sold out (16,000-person) concert featuring Rage Against the Machine. Here, from Maureen Faulkner and acclaimed talk show host / journalist Michael Smerconish, is the first book to carefully and definitively lay out the case against Abu-Jamal, and those who've elevated him to the status of political prisoner. Smerconish, a lawyer, has provided pro bono legal counsel to Faulkner for over a decade and knows both the legal intricacies and personal subtleties of the case like no other person. He's personally acquainted himself with the more than five thousand pages of trial transcript. "My reading starkly revealed that Abu-Jamal murdered Danny Faulkner in cold blood and that the case tried in Philadelphia in 1982 bore no resemblance to the one being home-cooked by the Abu-Jamal defense team." As Abu-Jamal's lawyers contemplate their final appeal, Faulkner and Smerconish weave a compelling,never-before-told account of one fateful night and the 25-year-long rewriting of history. |
"This is a harrowing book, told with uncommon grace and dignity. Maureen Faulkner is an incredible woman. The story she tells, of being denied for more than a quarter century the dignity of burying her police officer husband in peace, is even more incredible."
(Buzz Bissinger - Author of Friday Night Lights)
Excellent book! This is an amazing lady and an amazing book!
Everyone should read this