Jamaat al-Muslimeen International Press Release
Victory for Imam Jamil's Defense possible
Prosecution Has No Case: Eyewitness Account
by Sis.Motisola M. Abdallah
{The report moves from past tense to present tense as it moves into the
final
aspect of the trial.}
The states rested its case Tuesday, March 5th in the same manner it
opened
unable to make a case against Imam Jamil Al-Amin for the murder of one
deputy and the wounding of another almost two years ago. During the
state's
proceedings, it was by the grace of Allah, that many of the state's own
witnesses turned out to testify in such a manner that it helped the
defense
team. This provided further evidence that the state was pulling straws
out
of the air trying to win a name for them by trying to get Imam Jamil
convicted.
The second week of court proceedings became increasingly hostile and
with
less
tolerant behavior of the deputies vis-a-vis the steady, peaceful stream
of
Muslims into the
courtroom. A few of Imam Jamil supporters, once they did get into the
courtroom after a two hour wait, were pulled out of the courtroom by
deputies to be further searched and harassed. Not only did the
deputies
follow orders to not allow any show of support for the Imam such as
buttons
or uniforms to enter the courtroom, but they selectively pulled out key
supporters to question them if they had anything in their pockets that
showed support for Imam Jamil.
All this started when Judge Stephanie B.Manis threw three New Black
Panther
Party members out of the courtroom for
wearing their uniforms which carried the emblem of a Black Panther.
Also,
at the sight of a Muslim sister who entered the courtroom in veil,
Judge
Stephanie B. Manis became visibly upset and paused for several seconds
as
she seemingly mulled over to herself what to do about this, but her
better
judgment, if she has any, could not come up with anything.
The next day the
New Black Panther Party members lead by Brother Malik Zulu Shabazz held
a
press conference on the steps of the courthouse and brilliantly and
effectively exposed the absurdities of the actions of the court and
Judge
Stephanie B. Manis. Then suddenly the next day and throughout the rest
of
the trial the entire atmosphere of the deputies changed.
THE PHILLY ATLANTA FBI CONNECTION
FBI agent Bob Campbell took the stand Monday, March 4th and was
questioned
about his non-professional attitude at the capture of Imam Jamil in
Whitehall Alabama. Defense attorney Michael Warren brought up the
actions of
this FBI agent who was the one who spit, verbally abused and kicked
Imam
Jamil Al-Amin in the head while he was handcuffed and lying on the
ground
defenseless after his capture. Bob Campbell tries to seem humble and
remorseful while on the stand for what he did two years ago to the
Imam. He
was so remorseful and ashamed of what he did that one and a half years
later
after which included him taking a nice vacation on the beach; he came
forward to his superiors to tell what happen. But, the excellent
lawyer
team quickly cut up Mr. Humble pie by keenly bringing out the fact that
it
was only after he learned that he was going to be called on the stand
and
asked about that night did Bob Campbell's shame kick in. As the
defense
peeled away at his contradicting testimony about that night, they also
revealed
that this same deputy was involved in controversial behavior before.
Bob
Campbell was involved in the shooting death of a Black man several
years ago
in Philly that he said was attacking him. Bob Campbell shot this black
man
in the back of the head.
"IT'S A CONSPIRACY"
These were the only words uttered by Imam Jamil Al-Amin the night of
his
capture. Let's take a further look into his statement almost 2 years
later.
FBI agent Mr. Bob 'Ashamed' Campbell was grilled by the defense as to
why he
lagged behind the 40 or so other team members and came out of the woods
in
Whitehall, Alabama minutes later to join the rest of his team. And
upon
catching up with his fellow team members walked up to Imam Jamil and
abused
him. It was the following day from the same area that agent Bob
Campbell
suspiciously with no explanation lagged behind that the FBI found a bag
with
items in it that belonged to Imam Jamil along with the alleged murder
weapon.
Also, the car that the Imam drives was found with absolutely no fingers
prints in his own car. The only way that could have happened is if
someone
cleaned
the entire car of all fingerprints so that their own fingerprints would
not
be found. This was consistent with the bag, a soda bottle, a bottle of
water, and other personal possessions of the Imam were found with
absolutely
no fingerprints. And more interesting is that the weapon supposedly
used
by Imam Jamil to kill the deputy that night had not one single finger
print
to tie Imam Jamil to it.
JUDGE FLIES INTO A FURY AT THE DEFENSE'S INTRODUCTION OF THE SO-CALLED
RACE
CARD.
Judge Stephanie B. Manis went into a rage as defense attorney Jack
Martin
tried to show that it was strange that all the white FBI agents
involved in
the capture of Imam Jamil just could not recollect seeing their fellow
friend and co-worker kick and spit on the Imam while three African
Americans
remembered distinctively even though they all were standing just a
couple of
feet from the handcuffed Imam. Judge Stephanie B. Manis sends the jury
out
of the courtroom and scolds Jack Martin about playing the race card.
Martin
backs off after unsuccessfully trying to convince the judge that race
plays
a part in our every day lives. Then FBI agent Danny Spindall takes the
stand and was asked how he felt that night after capturing Imam Jamil.
The
white FBI agent grinned and replied, "it felt good, and it felt like
we
were at a barbeque". The courtroom that was comprised of mostly
African-Americans erupts into disapproval at the term barbeque by this
white
agent. At that very moment just about all of us probably reflected on
images of KKK burning black bodies, drinking beer and smiling while
referencing that they were at a barbeque.
All the FBI agents said that it was Imam Jamil Al-Amin that shot at
them
first. Three residents of Whitehall who never met or knew of Imam
Jamil
testified that they saw agents jump out of their dark blue or black SUV
and
start to shoot towards the woods that night. "It's a conspiracy," says
Imam
Jamil that night. Now you draw your own conclusion.
Judge Stephanie B. Manis after allowing the prosecution two weeks to
present
case tells the defense team to wrap up in three days. As was stated
all
along for two years there was another shooter in the area that night,
there
was a man wounded asking for a ride in the area that night, there was a
man
with a weapon who was bleeding that night.
One day before the defense has
to rest its case, we hear of a female dispatcher who actually received
three
911 calls
that night of people telling her that there was a bleeding man with a
weapon
trying to flag down a ride. Upon learning about the 9ll tapes becoming
available, Judge Stephanis B. Manis stops court proceedings and
dismisses
court early until she can meet privately and decided what to do about
these
911 recorded tapes. She finally decided that these tapes were just
hearsay
because the callers did not identify themselves. However, she did
allow the
female dispatcher to take the stand to verbally talk about the calls
that
night. This female dispatcher happened to be a Muslim.
The clincher
While supporters are upset about the defense having only three days to
bring in witnesses, Jack Martin pulls a punch. That night, March 16,
2000,
there was a building not far from the incident, which carried a video
camera
for security reasons. On that video and on that night the camera
captured a
wounded man climbing over the fence who was about the same height as
the man
that witnesses saw that night on March 16, 2000 who was not Imam Jamil.
This was presented in still life form for the jury to look at and the
defense rest its case one and a half days before the deadline given to
them
by the judge. It was a clincher. The prosecution was so taken back by
this
brilliant move that they told the court the had no rebuttal.
The jury could go into deliberation as early as this weekend.
The courtroom was evident of the confidence many people had in Imam
Jamil
Al-Amin. But where were the scholars, Imams and national organization
representatives who without reservation appeared on shows like CNN, 60
minutes, the Fox 5 news and other television shows who from the onset
of 911
constantly condemned Islam and Muslims.
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2002-03-08 Fri 16:26ct