RUBIN 'HURRICANE' CARTER ON WHIRLWIND BAY AREA TOUR IN DEFENSE OF INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN DEATH ROW INMATE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL. A hurricane has hit the Bay Area - Rubin "Hurricane" Carter that is, speaking at two benefits for Mumia Abu-Jamal, internationally known death row inmate unjustly convicted of murder. Join with Hurricane Carter, Michael Franti of Spearhead, Mumia's son Mazi Jamal, Geronimo ji Jaga, Angela Davis, Pam Africa, and Leonard Weinglass on Saturday, October 7th, at 7:30 p.m. at Mission High School, 18th and Dolores Streets in San Francisco. Call the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal at 415-695-7745 or visit www.freemumia.org. Saturday, October 7th 7:30 p.m. at Mission High School 18th and Dolores Streets in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ISSUES PROCLAMATION WELCOMING HURRICANE TO THE CITY Mr. Carter, known during his championship boxing career as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, will be speaking at two major fund raising events to help meet the rising legal costs facing Mumia Abu-Jamal in his efforts to win a new trial and overturn his death sentence. Hurricane, falsely imprisoned for 19 years, is a leader in the movement to demand a new trial for Mumia, and of the movement to free the wrongfully convicted. Hurricane's struggle for freedom was portrayed last year in the Academy Award nominated film The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington. Arriving from Canada on Friday, October 6, 2000, Mr. Carter will receive a Proclamation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors commending his efforts on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal and other unjustly convicted individuals at a press conference at Noon at the San Francisco Golden Gate Holiday Inn. Mumia's chief legal counsel, Leonard Weinglass (an acknowledged expert in capital cases), will discuss the current stage of the appeal before Federal District Judge William J. Yohn, Jr., while Pam Africa, National Coordinator of International Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, will provide an update on the growing international support for a new trial. Weinglass and Africa will be joining Hurricane in all of his engagements, as will popular spoken word artist Michael Franti. Mr. Carter's itinerary is provided below, and his appearances include a Friday evening reception and rally in Palo Alto and a reception and rally in San Francisco on Saturday, October 7th. In addition to the Friday press conference, Mr. Carter is scheduling selected individual interviews during his stay. Please contact Jeff Mackler (415-695-7745), Laura Herrera (415-773-5572), or Paul George (650-326-8837) for further information. See Attached Itinerary. ### ITINERARY FOR RUBIN 'HURRICANE' CARTER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2000 5:30 p.m. Reception at Café Macondo, 3159 - 16th Street, San Francisco 7:30 p.m. Rally at Mission High School, 18th and Dolores Streets, in San Francisco. **************************************************************************** Call Laura Herrera (415-773-5572, Jeff Mackler (415-695-7745), or Paul George (650-326-8837) for more information. ===========================> From: Leslie Jones ona move! peace everyone....... please help spread the word (Mumia's LIFE depends on it!)..... WHO: Mumia Abu-Jamal International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal WHAT: IMMEDIATE ACTION on the denial of the AMICUS BRIEFS filed in Mumia's case WHEN: NOW! (as in start today.......) WHERE: Reach out to EVERYONE! Just as we have educated our communities about Mumia's case and prepared ourselves to be in Philadelphia for Mumia's day in federal court, we MUST EDUCATE ourselves and our communities with the LIFE-SAVING information contained in those amicus briefs! WHY: TO SAVE MUMIA! This is Mumia's LAST CHANCE in the court system. If the information contained in those briefs was not critical to Mumia's case this government would not have denied them! We CANNOT trust Yohn to do what is right! HOW: Use the information in those briefs to create flyers, write newspaper articles and editorials, make stickers for bumpers and subway walls! Wheat-paste and poster these words EVERYWHERE! spread the word.......... you know how we do! We are presenting a series of "Necessary and Helpful" Hints to help you comb through the briefs. The information in these hints is being taken directly out of the two amicus briefs involved in the appeal (citations will be included). Use this information in whatever way you can to show the PEOPLE that, based on the violation of Mumia's constitutional rights by Sabo, District Attorney McGill, and court-appointed defense attorney Anthony Jackson, NOT that Mumia did not have a fair trial, BUT that in 1982--when faced with life or death for a crime he did not commit--Mumia had NO TRIAL! "Necessary and Helpful" Hint #1 (taken from the Chicana/Chicano amicus curiae petition) Mumia was DENIED the personal and fundamental right to represent himself. On May 13, 1982, Mumia requested, and was granted, the right to represent himself. Thereafter, Mumia (acting as his own attorney or pro se) argued several pre-trial motions, and questioned 23 potential jurors before Sabo took over the voir dire (jury selection process) WITHOUT removing Mumia's pro se status. On June 17, 1982, when the trial began, Sabo first threatened to remove Mumia as his own attorney because he wanted a microphone at counsel table. Mumia then renewed a request for John Africa, Founder of the MOVE Organization, to assist him with his defense--expressing dissatisfaction with his court-appointed counsel, Anthony Jackson. This is the interesting part. This discussion about John Africa's participation in Mumia's trial continued throughout the morning session (the jury was excused), and then after the noon recess. During the course of this discussion between Mumia, Sabo, District Attorney McGill, and Jackson, Mumia continued to express that he did not want Jackson as his lawyer. Neither Sabo, McGill, or Jackson knew the law regarding whether or not a non-lawyer (John Africa) could serve as back-up counsel. So they decided that Mumia's request for John Africa's assistance needed to be decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Sabo suggested that Jackson go before the PA Supreme Court. Sabo then REMOVED Mumia as his own counsel so that Jackson would have the "standing" he needed to ask about John Africa. Courts require that the parties who come before them have a "case or controversy." Meaning that if you do not have a real and present problem, the courts do not want to hear your story. The courts don't just give advice. They allegedly decide and solve real problems. So Sabo figured that in order to get resolution of Mumia's request for John Africa, he needed Jackson to be a party before the PA Supreme Court. For Jackson to be a party, he had to have standing--he had to be Mumia's attorney. At that point, Mumia was representing himself. So Sabo appointed Jackson as Mumia's lawyer, despite having NO justification to strip Mumia of his pro se status. In other words, Sabo took away Mumia's right to represent himself so that Jackson could find out the law on non-lawyers serving as back-up counsel. We have been hearing for several years through numerous sources of MISINFORMATION that Mumia was removed as his own counsel because he was "disruptive" in the proceedings. Apparently, asking for a microphone so that you can be heard by all in a trial for your life is disruptive. (And I will add that in every Common Pleas courtroom I've been in in the Philadelphia Criminal "Justice" Center, there IS a microphone at counsel tables, so was Mumia's request outlandish?) BUT if Mumia's behavior so warranted his removal as his own attorney, why then did prosecutor McGill specifically say to Sabo that once the back-up attorney question is clarified "and we are again before this Court in this trial that Your Honor consider moving Mr. Jackson and reappointing or for that matter allowing Mr. Jamal to represent himself again." (6/17/82 Tr. 1.120) Would the procesutor have suggested that Mumia be allowed to represent himself if Mumia had been as "disruptive" as we have always been told in the mainstream press? During the four days Mumia argued several motions, cross-examining several witnesses, Sabo made no note of any disruptive behavior on Mumia's part. (6/1/82 Tr. 1.1-1.149; 6/2/82 Tr. 2.1-2.135; 6/3/82 Tr. 3.1-3.104; 6/4/82 Tr. 4.1-4.147) For the first two days of the voir dire (jury selection process), June 7th & 8th, Mumia questioned 23 potential jurors--successfully challenged two for cause, DEFEATED a prosecution challenge for cause, and exercised two premeptory challenges. Nonetheless, Sabo took over questioning the potential jurors himself, claiming that the process was taking too long and that some of the potential jurors were not comfortable with Mumia questioning them. Since when are our constitutional rights to a jury of our peers about a potential juror's comfort level? This sounds like the same "concerned neighbor complaints" used to justify dropping a C-4 exposive device on MOVE's West Philadelphia home May 13, 1985, which KILLED 11 MOVE men women and children! Furthermore, if potential juror comfort levels were the gauge for deciding whether or not a pro se defendant could conduct voir dire, then what purpose does the Sixth Amendment serve? Mumia WAS NOT disruptive! Sabo removed Mumia as his own counsel IN VIOLATION of Mumia's Sixth Amendment rights! According to the United States Supreme Court, denial of the right to self-representation is NEVER harmless error, and can ONLY be remedied by granting the defendant a NEW TRIAL. (Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975); Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310 (1990), citing McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S. 168 (1984); accord Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275 (1993)) the story gets better.......... stay tuned for "Necessary and Helpful" Hint #2 in the meantime.......... READ THE BRIEFS! www.mumia.org or www.mumia2000.org To SAVE MUMIA we MUST take this information to the streets! Just as we have presented Mumia's case around the world, we now have to likewise EXPOSE what this government would rather keep secret! Judge Yohn denied four amicus briefs filed in Mumia's case. We are APPEALING that decision. But we CANNOT rely on the courts to do what is right! You can also SIGN ON to the APPEAL of Yohn's decision denying these critical briefs! We need you to use the language INSIDE two of the briefs (Chicana/Chicano Studies and the British Parliament briefs) to state WHY these briefs MUST be filed in this case. For more information on HOW you/your organization can sign on to the appeal, contact: The International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal P. O. Box 19709 Philadelphia, PA 19143 (phone) 215-476-8812, 215-476-5416 (fax) 215-476-6160 icffmaj@aol.com take care & stay on the move! FREE MUMIA! FREE LEONARD PELTIER! FREE THE MOVE 9! LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA! LONG LIVE REVOLUTION! ================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER 211 SCB BOX 47, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY DETROIT, MI 48202-- E MAIL: ac6123@wayne.edu ====================================================================== ********* Related Web Sites: ************** http://www.cc.utah.edu/~pks1019/tips.html http://www.freemumia.org http://www.zimpapers.co.zw http://www.cosatu.org.za http://www.coalitionforjustice.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 06 Oct 2000 15:13:34 -0400 From: David Sole Subject: Demo for Mumia COMMUNITY RALLY & MARCH TO STOP THE EXECUTIONS - SAVE THE LIFE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL! END POLICE TERRORISM IN DETROIT! Rally: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday, October 14, 2000 Hampton Memorial Missionary Baptist Church 15100 Fenkell (at Coyle, between Schaefer & Greenfield, Detroit) Community March follows Rally Called by: Abayomi Azikiwe, Coalition to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Michigan Afrikan American Leadership Summit; Millions For Mumia/International Action Center; for more information call: MILLIONS FOR MUMIA/IAC: (313) 831-0750 ==========================================> STOP THE EXECUTION OF ZOLO AGONA AZANIA! ------------ Common Courage Political Literacy Course - http://www.commoncouragepress.com Dear friend, Several months ago, we at Common Courage corresponded with an Indiana death-row prisoner named Zolo Agona Azania. Currently working on a manuscript, he is a talented artist and writer who has been active in the black liberation struggle for decades. Just recently, the Indiana Supreme Court set Zolo's execution date. He is now scheduled to die by lethal injection on October 25. We are asking that you please take a few minutes to help save his life. Zolo was a committed community activist even before his arrest in 1981. But in the years he has spent behind bars, he has continued to use his painting, drawing and writing skills to fight for "economic self-reliance, local community control and development free of corruption." Zolo identifies as a Conscious Citizen of the Republic of New Afrika and he firmly supports any cause that works in earnest with poor people "regardless of race or religion, in their struggle against hunger, disease, exploitation and poverty." It's very little wonder our government wants him dead. This is not to say, however, that Zolo isn't guilty of any crimes. Prosecutors contend that he robbed a bank with two other men, and that he fatally wounded a police officer while they were fleeing. Taking a person's life is quite clearly a serious charge that must be addressed. But also as clear is the fact that Zolo was singled out because of his race and his political views. Prosecutors sought the death penalty against him, rather than life in prison, because they considered him "a New Afrikan terrorist." For obvious legal reasons, Zolo is not saying whether or not he was involved in the robbery. His lawyer contends that a co-defendant actually killed the officer. And while there is evidence to suggest that that may be the case, we cannot say with any certainty whether or not Zolo is innocent. Like many indigent, black men on death row, Zolo Azania never received a fair trial to establish the facts. The state tampered with key witnesses, important evidence was not introduced and Zolo's court-appointed attorneys failed to even provide mitigating evidence during the sentencing. One can only imagine what would happen in this country when a defendant identifies himself as a New Afrikan citizen: race played an important role. The jury that convicted Zolo was all white. During his sentencing retrial, a so-called "computer error" eliminated 70% of the county's black jurors from his potential jury pool, so he was again sentenced by a "jury of his peers" with no black members. Despite any questions of guilt or innocence, we are fighting for Zolo Azania's life. We do so because he has asked us to. We do so because we are against the death penalty. And, most importantly, we do so because Zolo continues to use the gifts he has, even from death row, to help other human beings. If you would like to add your name to a letter to the Indiana Supreme Court asking that they grant Zolo a stay of execution and that they allow him to file a post-conviction petition addressing the "computer error" and other issues, please visit our website at http://www.commoncouragepress.com/zolo.html. Thank you for your time, and for accepting this intrusion. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Arthur Stamoulis Common Courage Press ==================================> International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ P.O. Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143 Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6160/ E-mail - icffmaj@aol.com To communicate directly w/Mumia please write to him at: Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335 SCI-Greene 175 Progress Drive Waynesburg, PA 15370 Stop the execution! New trial for Mumia! Youth & Students for Mumia http://www.mumia2000.org