1
1
1
The straight arrow shows where Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was allegedly standing and the direction he was facing when shot. The curved line shows Mumia's approach before allegedly shooting Faulkner. Accordingly, while Faulkner was standing in front of Billy Cook's VW and facing west up Locust St., Mumia passed by Faulkner's right side and looped around before shooting him in the back.
The straight arrow shows where Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was allegedly standing and the direction he was facing when shot. The curved line shows Mumia's approach before allegedly shooting Faulkner. Accordingly, while Faulkner was standing in front of his police car and facing east down Locust St., Mumia came in front of Faulkner and looped around before shooting him in the back.
Complementing the newly discovered crime scene photos taken by press photographer Pedro Polakoff, this official police crime scene photo (not taken by Polakoff) shows that on the sidewalk, where Officer Faulkner was found, there are no large bullet divots, or destroyed chunks of cement, which should be visible in the pavement if the prosecution scenario was accurate, according to which Abu-Jamal shot down at Faulkner at close range -- and allegedly missed several times -- while Faulkner was on his back. German author Michael Schiffmann writes: "It is thus no question any more whether the scenario presented by the prosecution at Abu-Jamal's trial is true. It is clearly not, because it is physically and ballistically impossible."
To further analyze the pavement for bullet marks, journalist Dave Lindorff hired Robert Nelson, a senior research astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, who is an expert in photo analysis and enhancement, currently assigned to enhance and analyze the photos taken by the Cassini space probe that is orbiting Saturn. Lindorff explains that he sent Nelson one of the photos taken by Pedro Polakoff, showing "the bloody spot where Officer Faulkner had been lying on the sidewalk," asking Nelson to try and "spot any divots in the area, such as one would certainly see if someone were firing high-velocity bullets from just a few feet above the cement directly into the ground." Nelson utilized the "same edge enhancement and contrast enhancement work that he does typically with the photos that are sent back from the Cassini probe, and replied to me that the concrete appeared to be "completely smooth' with no pitting or divots."
