[col. Writ. 11/7/99]  © 1999 Mumia Abu-Jamal

A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.
-H.L. Mencken (Journalist) (1800-1956)

In prison one of the easiest things, and first things to acquire, is a nickname.
It could be a remarkable physical characteristic; a feature, or a fact arising from the case that landed one in jail.  For James Dennis, it was his height that earned him the common moniker, "Shorty."

Shorty had life of a promising musician, as young father, who had many
reasons to have hope in the way his life going.  All of this ended on the
afternoon of October 22nd, 1991, when a beautiful youngster named Chedell
Williams was shot and killed as she and her friend were entering the subway
station in the Fern rock neighborhood.  It was a robber murder, reportedly
for her earrings.

At trial, the state prosecutor argued to the jury:

Two finger rings, one gold chain, earlobes bleeding from where the earrings
were snatched.  Did she leave a legacy?  I hope she did.  And it's not in a-it's
not in a slogan or cliché, don't wear jewelry.  It's not in a slang and it's not a cliché, if you wear jewelry go in a group.  What this is about, ladies and gentlemen, is stopping the person from trying to take advantage.  Wearing earrings when they will sell you those earrings, they don't put a sign on them that says, wearing these earrings may be hazardous to your life.  But that's
the reality under which we now live.  [Trial notes:15 Oct. 1992, p. 98]

The case was a hot one, and anyone allegedly involved in it, was sure to face
serious trouble from both the community and from authorities.  Unfortunately
for him, one of the people connected to the case, was Shorty.  Three
eyewitnesses testified to seeing the shooting, and would give various
descriptions of the shooting, and the assailants.  The Pennsylvania Supreme
Court would later find that these witnesses provided "protracted and
unobstructed" views of the shooters, thereby upholding the identifications
of Shorty.

Armed with these tools, and the nature of the case, it was an easy matter for
the prosecutor to convince the jury to convict, and shortly thereafter, to
sentence Shorty to death.

It is easier than most people suspect, for a prosecutor to get a death
sentence under present laws.  In no other case, can jurors be removed purely
because they may have some opposition to the death penalty.  The resulting
jury is one that scholars agree is one that is more prone to convict, and
also more prone to sentence someone to death.  The courts have ruled,
however, that such an outcome is not unconstitutional.

Was the fact that there were three eyewitnesses undeniable evidence of
Shorty's guilt?  Hardly.  A close examination of the witness testimony proves
otherwise.  One testified previously that he "had visual contact" with the
shooter for "no more than a second", which became three of "four" seconds
at trial.  Another said, several days after the incident that a photo of Shorty
looked like the guy, "but I can't be sure."  An additional eye-witness gave
a similar statement several days after the shooting, saying that the photo
of Shorty "looks familiar, but I can't be sure."

These are, at best, equivocal identifications, certainly no sure ones.

Some described the shooter as a person standing 5 feet 10 inches, yet
Shorty's most distinctive feature is his shortness: a man who stands 5 feet
5 inches.  Another witness said the shooter was 5 feet 9 inches, about 180
pounds of weight.  Shorty weighed around 125-132 pounds at the time.

His alibi witness testimony was disregarded, and evidence of other
perpetrators was all but ignored.  Remarkably, 3 justices of the state's
highest court decided that "improper prosecutorial misconduct" in closing
argument narred the trial, violating Shorty's right to a fair and impartial
proceeding.  But in Pennsylvania, the opinions of 3 justices is tantamount
to no opinion at all, for the majority rules.  And in this case, 4 judges ruled
otherwise, thus affirming the marred trial they went before.  For want of
one vote, Shorty remains in the abode of death.

His life as a musician was cut short, and an innocent man waits to die.

His loving family and friends continues to fight for his life and for his freedom.

© MAJ 1999