When William Singletary took the stand for the first time on Aug. 10 of this year, he said that Faulkner was shot by a man who was riding in the passenger seat of the VW with Billy Cook and then fled on foot before police arrived.
As Faulkner argued with Cook, the passenger complained about how tired he was of police harassment, according to Singletary, and shot Faulkner in the face. The man fled, throwing the gun away. Then Faulkner shot Abu-Jamal when the latter leaned over to help the wounded officer.
Singletary charged that police had rejected his original statement, coerced him to sign a false statement, and then harassed him and drove him out of his gas station business. And he claimed not to have seen prosecution witness Cynthia White at the spot where she claimed to have been.
Attorneys for Abu-Jamal claim police continued to rip up Singletary's statements until the witness agreed to sign one denying he had seen the shootings. And they say he was threatened with violence and arrest-with Philadelphia police continuing to visit him even after he fled to North Carolina.
Prosecutor Arlene Fisk described Singletary's testimony as "another piece of nonsense being paraded before this court."
Singletary's claim partially intersected with that of another witness, Arnold Howard, an old acquaintance of both Cook and Abu-Jamal. Howard testified Aug. 9 that he lent his drivers license to a Kenneth Freeman, now deceased, prior to the shooting. He also claimed that Freeman told him on the morning after the shooting that he had been driving the VW.
Scene of the CrimeChronologyDefense Motion