WASHINGTON, March 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The speedy conviction of Atlanta Muslim leader Imam Jamil Abdullah al-Amin this weekend - guilty on all 13 counts - is now being followed by the hearing of witnesses to decide on his sentence, as supporters continue to rally behind him.

On Tuesday, March 12, jurors heard among others the testimony of a former Black Panther Party member and the father of an NBA star, both of whom spoke to Al-Amin's good character in an attempt to soften the sentence, newspapers reported.

Former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver said that Al-Amin - often remembered by the media today as "former Black Panther militant H. Rap Brown" - spent only four months with the Panthers because of interventions by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, according to a report Tuesday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cleaver, a law professor at Emory University, said that Al-Amin was an "upbeat, comical person," according to the article.

Another witness described the good work that Al-Amin had done in his community.

"He was very instrumental in organizing the West End" of Atlanta, said William Abdur-Rahim, father of Hawks All-Star player Shareef Abdur-Rahim, in an article Tuesday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He helped to push drugs out. He helped to push prostitution out."

The paper said that Abdur-Rahim, who leads an Islamic leaders' council in Atlanta, says he has known Al-Amin for 18 years and can vouch for his character and good works.

Abdur-Rahim's words reflect what most of Al-Amin's supporters have been saying ever since he was arrested in March of 2000 for the murder of a sheriff's deputy. To the American Muslim community, he is known as a gentle man - a far cry from his association with the militant Black Panthers in the 1960s - who has worked hard to clean up his community and spread the message of Islam in a nonviolent manner.

Now, after a speedy conviction, his supporters are waiting to see which of the three options under deliberation he will be sentenced with: life without possibility of parole, life with possibility of parole, or death by lethal injection.

"I feel that the conviction emanated from bias," said Mauri Saalakhan of the Peace and Justice Foundation, which has campaigned in support of Al-Amin. "There was a bias in the jury pool stemming from the avalanche of negative propaganda that erupted around the case when it first began two years ago."

On March 16, 2000, two sheriff's deputies in Fulton County, Georgia, tried to arrest Al-Amin on a warrant issued because of his failure to appear in court; he had been charged with receiving stolen property and impersonating an officer.

The deputies were shot; one of them, Ricky Kinchen, died the next day, and the surviving deputy Aldranon English, who was wounded, testified in this trial that Al-Amin shot him and fired on his partner repeatedly, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The 58-year old Al-Amin, who wore a white robe and cap in the courtroom, was convicted largely on the deputy's testimony.

After 10 hours of deliberation over two days, the jury found Al-Amin guilty on all 13 counts he was charged with, including felony murder, aggravated assault, obstructing a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Al-Amin was arrested in the woods in Alabama two days after the murder. Authorities said they found the guns that were used in Kinchen's murder near the place where Al-Amin was arrested.

On Monday, March 11, family members of Kinchen testified as to the effect of his death on their lives, the Journal-Constitution reported. The deputy's mother, Armagene Brooks, was quoted in the paper as saying, "When Ricky died, a part of me died with him. Sometimes I just sit by the phone and wait for Ricky to call."

Al-Amin and his supporters have said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the prosecution have framed him for the murder, citing his past brushes with the law, which included a conviction in 1967 for inciting a riot during the height of the U.S. civil rights movement, AFP said.

Many feel that the trial was unfairly weighted by prejudice because Al-Amin is a Muslim.

"Anytime a Muslim is accused of a crime, the specter of terrorism is raised and everyone panics," Saalakhan, who has written extensively on Al-Amin's case said, referring to the work of late lawyer Bill Kunstler, who said that Muslims are now the most hated group in the country.

"So this is the atmosphere of America the past several years," added Saalakhan. "This, combined with the way the media has treated the personality of this man… in my view, it tainted the jury."

Saalakhan, who sat in the courtroom for the first week of the case and has followed it closely, said that Al-Amin's attorneys have indicated they will file an appeal, but he was not hopeful about that possibility.

"Unless something quite unexpected and dramatic happens, he's going to be locked up for a number of years before an appeal is heard, and hopefully justice can be brought about in this case," he said.

The Peace and Justice Foundation is holding a rally in solidarity with Al-Amin on Monday, March 18 in Atlanta.

Referring to a Hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to "tie your camel and have trust in Allah," Saalakhan said that Muslims in America had not done enough to help Al-Amin.

"The fact of the matter is that we have not tied our camel with this case," he said. "I feel that Muslims were very negligent with this case."

"There is a struggle ahead… It's going to take time, a lot of effort but with faith and determination I believe that we can rectify this unfortunate injustice."

With additional reporting by Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington correspondent