"For you are prisoners of war, in an enemy's country--of a war, too, that is unrivaled for its injustice, cruelty, meanness..."

--Frederick Douglass (1850)

It is increasingly easy to stereotype the men and women on Death Row. The State does it every day, as does the press. Those banished to the most exclusive club in America are deemed worthy of damnation, and in truth, all are presumed guilty, for did not a jury say so?

Then one meets Fred Thomas, a 53-year-old great-grandfather, who was projected to a jury as homeless, heartless, and in the words of the DA, "a predator."

After a brief, week-long trial with an incompetent defense attorney, Fred was convicted of 1st degree murder, and a day later, on February 28, 1995, the jury sent Fred to Death Row in Pennsylvania.

Why should one care about a "homeless, heartless predator?" Clearly the jury didn't. What the jury never learned was that an eyewitness, located the day after the killing of a FedEx driver in the so-called "Bad lands" of North Philly, gave a statement to the cops that she witnessed the shooting, named two of the assailants, and described the third--none of whom remotely resembled Fred Thomas. Indeed, her statement was corroborated by another witness, who saw the three men running away!

I know, I know; the question arises: how did the prosecutor convict this man? Well, in his first attempt, he didn't, for the jury refused to convict, and a hung jury was declared.

In the second trial, the State provided two witnesses--both crack addicts--who claimed they saw Fred fleeing the scene, but even they could not say that they saw him shoot anyone, or that he was even armed. According to the woman who did see the shooting, however, one of the assailants was related to one of the two witnesses who now placed Fred at the scene. These "witnesses," both of whom had extensive criminal histories, were not asked about their drug-related activities, despite repeated requests of counsel to do so. A homeless man, desperate for a dollar to survive, might rob and kill a truck driver--as would a drug addict. But Fred wasn't a homeless man, nor an addict, but a hard-working man, who worked a variety of jobs to support his growing family. When a group of his former and present employers appeared in court on his behalf, they were told by his counsel that they weren't necessary. They left.

The jury never heard from the main witness, because she was threatened with the taking of her children. At an extraordinary bench warrant hearing to compel the witness's presence, the State revealed an extraordinary distaste for a person who gives a statement in a murder proceeding:

ADA: Well as I stated earlier, anything that the Commonwealth could do to assist, of course, we will. Back in October, I brought to the Court's attention that, and we shared the information with defense counsel: one, that this person was on welfare under an assumed name.

ADA: Thus, there is a real basis for a charge of welfare fraud. We actively looked for her during the various tours that my officers were working... [Pre-trial Hearing, Com. V. Thomas, 2/13/95.]

Again, this is a witness, not a suspect!

Contrary to popular opinion, under existing rules, the processing of a death sentence is the easiest in the system. And the cops involved? They are almost all doing time for the corruption scandal around the 39th police district.

Guess who "found" the witnesses?

Guess who prepped them?

And guess who advised others not to show up?

The infamous 39th District, which has a certain expertise in using drug addicts and whores when they need "witnesses," is at the root of why Fred Thomas is on death row, and not at home with his loving grandchildren. He is innocent of murder, and as of this writing, has a date to die for November 23rd, 1999.

Now, in truth, he may survive past this death warrant, his second. But the question arises, will he survive Death Row? A 53-year-old, he recently was diagnosed as diabetic, and is now insulin-dependent. He has one fervent hope: "I hope my health don't give out, so I can live long enough to prove my innocence."

--Mumia Abu-Jamal

On October 27, Mumia was granted a stay of execution by Federal Judge William Yohn in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania. The stay was granted just 13 days after Governor Ridge signed Mumia's death warrant. The stay will last until the end of his appeal proceedings in Federal District Court. To find out about Mumia's case and to volunteer to help, contact the Seattle Mumia Defense Committee at 206-333-4290 or smdc@speakeasy.org. Nationwide contacts includes: the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal at 215-476-8812 or http://www.mumia.org.