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Jamil Al-Amin Sentenced to Life in Prison
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Jamil Al-Amin
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WASHINGTON, March 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Imam Jamil al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown) was sentenced Wednesday to life without parole, convicted of killing a Fulton County (Atlanta) sheriff’s deputy two years ago. The prosecution requested the death penalty.
A jury consisting of nine African-Americans, two whites and a Hispanic deliberated for four and a half hours before deciding to spare the life of the Muslim scholar.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that just as Judge Stephanie Manis sentenced al-Amin to spend the rest of his life behind bars, she asked him if he would like to speak.
He shook his head and mouthed the word "No," and showed no emotion as the sentence was read.
Al-Amin was convicted Saturday of killing Deputy Ricky Kinchen as the officer tried to serve him with an arrest warrant. Another deputy, Aldranon English, was wounded, but survived and identified Al-Amin as the gunman.
Defense attorneys said English was mistaken and someone else had shot the deputies. They also suggested that Al-Amin was framed as part of a government conspiracy that has dogged him since his days as a radical civil rights activist.
English’s identification is suspect as he first said the killer had gray eyes, although Al-Amin's eyes are brown. The deputy believed he had wounded his attacker, but Al-Amin was uninjured when arrested four days after the shooting.
In addition, another individual purportedly confessed to the murder, but that testimony was not brought in trial.
Defense attorneys had pleaded with the jury to spare Al-Amin, who was described by character witnesses as a peaceful religious leader, according to the Atlanta paper.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) issued a statement stating that the court decision has provoked disappointment and protest across the United States.
Civil Right leaders such as Coretta Scott King - wife of slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King - and former Mayor of Atlanta and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young have expressed their concern both over the conditions and circumstances of Al-Amin's trial and the fact that the death penalty was considered, MPAC’s statement read.
MPAC Political Advisor Mahdi Bray, Chairman of the National Support Committee for Imam Jamil Al-Amin, said, "We do not believe the facts presented in court warranted a guilty verdict against Imam Jamil.
“His defense team offered credible evidence indicating that he was not the person who shot the deputies,” said Bray.
Al-Amin's car was found in a small Alabama town where he was arrested. Police stated they retrieved bullets fired by both Kinchen and English from Al-Amin's Mercedes-Benz.
Federal agents said they found a pistol and a semiautomatic rifle on the trail Al-Amin took through woods shortly before he was arrested. A ballistics test matched a bullet taken from Kinchen's body to the pistol and traced shell casings found at the crime scene to the rifle, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
However, al-Amin’s defense team has stated that those guns were planted by law enforcement agencies. They have also indicated they will contest the verdict and the sentencing immediately.
Al-Amin's brother, Ed Brown, said, "He's alive - and that creates another day for us to fight."
Bray added that, “Because the death penalty has been disproportionately applied to minority defendants in America, we oppose its use in this or any other trial.
“The American Muslim community and its leadership will continue to support the cause of justice in this case and will ensure that Imam Jamil is able to exercise all the rights he is entitled to under the law," Bray concluded.
Al-Amin leads one of the nation's largest Muslim groups, the National Ummah. The movement, which has formed 36 mosques around the nation, is credited with revitalizing poverty-stricken pockets such as Atlanta's West End, where he owned a grocery store, reports news agencies.
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