Attorneys didn't know about William Harmon, a former pimp and convicted conman now serving a 33-month sentence in Mercer County prison, until the height of the latest hearings before Judge Sabo. Harmon wrote to defense attorneys and then testified on Aug. 10.

Harmon said he was having an early breakfast at a nearby restaurant on the night of the murder when he saw Abu-Jamal in the parking lot on the north side of Locust and walked over to talk with him. When Harmon heard a gunshot, he testified, he turned and saw Officer Faulkner collapse, and Abu-Jamal broke away to run toward the shooting. Harmon then saw someone he couldn't identify run east, away from the scene.

Harmon heard a second shot and saw Abu-Jamal fall to the ground. It was then, he said, that a red Chevy Malibu with two men drove up and parked behind the police car. One of the men emerged from the Chevy and shot the officer, climbed back in and fled. None of the other witnesses referred to a red Chevy Malibu in their testimony.

Prosecutor Arlene Fisk said in court that Harmon's account was "a great bedtime story that maybe I'll tell my kids tonight."