by Eric Ture Muhammad

ATLANTA, Ga. (FinalCall.com)�Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as activist H. Rap Brown, narrowly escaped a sentence of death by lethal injection as appeals for mercy came from clergy, civil rights activists, politicians, area residents, and former comrades during his heyday as chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and his brief stint with the Black Panther Party.

As he now readies himself for life behind bars, attorneys, family and supporters move forward in hopes of an appeal. It is a process, given the nature of his conviction, that appears elusive, however.

The 58-year old religious leader on March 13, after five hours of deliberation�half the time used to convict him four days earlier�was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 30 years, with five of those to run concurrent.

Imam Al-Amin, convicted of 13 felony counts, including the murder of Fulton County Sheriff�s Deputy Rickey Kinchen and the wounding of his partner Aldranon English, says he is innocent of the crime and that at the root of his imprisonment is a scheme by federal and local law enforcement.

Questions by jurors during the penalty phase of the trial prompted some to speculate they may have doubts about the imam�s guilt. Those questions were, what would be the minimum amount of time served by the imam if he received life with the possibility of parole, and what would the consequences be if the jurors could not reach a unanimous decision on the sentence?

Judge Stephanie Manis refused to answer the first question directly, sending a note back to jurors that there was no statute that addressed their question. After they raised the same question again, the defense produced a statute that required a minimum confinement of 14 years. Judge Manis said she was not aware of the statute.

On the second question, she responded in a note, saying it was too early for them to be in crisis over reaching a verdict. Approximately 20 minutes, their verdict was reached. Jurors declined comment when approached by The Final Call.

Defense attorney Michael Tarif Warren told The Final Call the jury selection process was manipulated by Judge Manis and prosecutors to disqualify Muslims and older people who would have known of Mr. Al-Amin and the history from which he hails. He worked in the South to promote voting rights and challenged racial oppression of Blacks as a high profile advocate for justice and Black Power in the 1960s and �70s, the attorney said.

"This trial was enamored with not only prosecutorial misconduct and outright lying, but also appeared to be an illicit pact entered into between Judge Stephanie Manis, the prosecution and the sheriff deputies as well to bring about the conviction," said attorney Warren.

"Somebody who has a broader level of experience, or someone who understands that policemen and law enforcement officers do not tell the truth, someone who understands what it means to destroy evidence, someone who understands what it means to be set up and have your life portrayed in a very hostile manner by the media over and over and over again would not look at the story presented by the prosecution as plausible. But none of those people was on this jury," lamented Kathleen Cleaver, a law professor and former Black Panther.

"What Jamil�s lawyers did was raise so many questions about what the prosecution said that a reasonable person would have questioned whether or not it happened that way," she explained. "When you see that those questions did not affect their verdict, when the questions and conflicting evidence seemed to affect everyone who wasn�t on the jury, you have to ask the question, how do they (jury) understand what happened?"

Those serious questions include, according to defense attorneys, how do you overlook the presumption of innocence and issues of reasonable doubt, when there is no concrete proof that the imam was at the scene of the crime; and, how do you ignore there is a witness to the shooting that was able to say the imam was not the shooter?

Another point of contention by the defense was the ex-parte, or one-party only, meetings the judge held with FBI officials and prosecutors during the pre-trial stages that allowed key evidence that defense says would have exonerated Mr. Al-Amin, to be suppressed.

"Truly this is a tragedy of epic proportions. It is a tragedy for the families who are victims of this crime and it is a tragedy for Jamil�s and my family," said Ed Brown, brother of Imam Al-Amin.

Mr. Brown thanked Mrs. Corretta Scott King, wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., for what he described as a courageous stand in a controversial letter calling for a fair and just trial for Mr. Al-Amin.

"She has been bitterly criticized for that, and I think that is unfortunate because her stance was consistent with the principles she and her husband stood for in terms of fairness and justice," said Mr. Brown.

Although Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard and Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett praised the conviction, many law enforcement officers�some who actually worked with Deputy English�have expressed doubts over the guilt of the imam. Speaking under conditions of anonymity with The Final Call, one deputy said: "I was hoping to be able to come before mikes and cameras and tell the world that justice has been done and that we got our man. But, I can�t say that. The only thing I can say is, we know less about what happened now than when we did before the trial."

A star defense witness who saw the shooting and lived across the street from the crime scene beat back the prosecution�s attack when he adamantly declared the shooter was not Mr. Al-Amin. Then there is the blood evidence that was prominently reported early in the case that mysteriously disappeared and 911 emergency police tapes that everyone in the courtroom and media were allowed to see and hear. Judge Manis, however, allowed only one of the three 911 tapes to be heard by the jury.

That Mr. Al-Amin was not injured, along with a clear videotaped statement during the course of the investigation where one of the sheriff�s deputies says he shot the person who shot him, should have been enough to elicit reasonable doubt, said attorney Warren. District Attorney Howard, during his news conference, compared the conviction to the trial of O.J. Simpson eight years earlier. He expressed hope that Mr. Al-Amin�s conviction would represent a new day�with law enforcement not colored by race, religion or politics.

"This case is not about and has never been about civil rights, race, religion, or 30-year-old conspiracies," the Black prosecutor said. "It is about the cold-blooded gunning down of two deputy sheriffs. Simply put, it is about justice."

The families of Mr. Kinchen and Mr. English asked those who disagree with the verdict to allow them to go on with their lives.

Worshippers at the Community Mosque in West End Atlanta, as does most of the community, continue to raise suspicions and belief that there may be some truth to the imam�s assertion of conspiracy.

"We the members of The Community Mosque, like the majority of the citizens of Atlanta, disagree with the unjust conviction of Imam Jamil Al-Amin," said Nadim S. Ali, spokesman for Mr. Al-Amin�s community, during a news conference held immediately after the sentencing verdict. "We will continue to stand with Imam Jamil in his assertion of innocence, and are confident that he will be exonerated on appeal."

"It grieves me and the members of the Nation of Islam to learn of the decision of the jury," wrote the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in an open letter to the imam, of which the Al-Amin family confirmed receipt. "We had hoped that you would be found innocent. However, knowing your great faith in Allah and His Messenger and your striving for these many years to obey Allah�s Will and to give Right Guidance to the people, I am assured that Allah, the Most High is comforting you and will be protecting you from whatever evil is planned against you," the Minister wrote.

Among those appealing to spare the life of Imam Al-Amin was former UN ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young. "He is a very peaceful man, and I saw no trace of any of the reported anger. Somehow, you cannot let grief, bitterness, hatred, whatever, overtake you," Mr. Young told the jurors.

When asked about the prospect of appeal by The Final Call, Ms. Cleaver responded: "Once a Black man, a Black Muslim man, who has long dossier with the Joint Terrorist Task Force, the DEA, ATF, FBI, GBI and the Atlanta police�someone who has that kind of background with these kinds of agencies, who also now has a murder conviction for killing a sheriff who was trying to serve an arrest warrant�that set of circumstances puts your appeal in a very difficult position.

"In any highly polarized case where there is a conviction of a Black leader, public support and outcry on the part of angered masses of people will make a difference. In the case of Jamil, there was a gag order on the defense, on the prosecution and there was a failure to organize around his case because it was so difficult to get information. Many people found out about the case when he was convicted. That was their beginning. In order for his appeal to have any kind of success, it is absolutely crucial there has to be some massive outcry in his favor," Ms. Cleaver concluded.