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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2011)
local news Bomb World Rhythm Washington, Peven said. This will be his first defense of a client charged with a hate crime, he said. Despite the charges, little about the motivations in the case are known because federal prosecutors have been granted their request to seal court docu- ments about the investigation that led authorities to arrest The Seattle Times have argued that the documents should be released because Harpham is in jail. However, U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush ruled last week that Harpham’s right to a fair trial outweighs the media’s right to the documents. He also ruled that the press does not traditionally have the right to see search warrant and grand jury materials. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, has said that Harpham made more than 1,000 postings on an Internet site used by racists called the Vanguard News Network. The SPLC has also said that Harpham belonged to a neo-Nazi group called the National Alliance. His father, Cecil Harpham, has said his son talked to racists on the Internet regular- ly, but never acted on racial hate. Harpham made more than 1,000 postings on a racist website Harpham on March 9. Prosecutors contend releas- ing details would hamper an on-going investigation, and could taint the jury pool. The Associated Press, Cowles Publishing Co., and PHOTO BY SuSan Fried continued from page 1 Bumpity thump, a youth African drumming group from Oakland, Ca., performed at the 18th Annual World Rhythm Festival Saturday April 23 at Seattle Center. the three day event is the largest of its kind in the world. the artists all donate their time and anyone can participate in the dance and drumming workshops. killer continued from page 1 issuing an Amber Alert for her sooner. THe FBi inTerVieW The man now serving a life sentence for killing Zina and raping two other girls told local investigators little after his arrest, aside from leading them to her body. He said even less in court appearances. Adhahn talked to the FBI agents for near- ly six hours, according to Wade’s report. He agreed to talk because he wanted to do something good in accordance with his Buddhist faith, the report states. He covered his abduction of Zina and that of another Tacoma girl he kidnapped and raped on Fort Lewis in 2000. That girl sur- vived. He said he snatched her after a fight with his girlfriend left him livid. Adhahn said he “wanted to control and toy with someone the way it was done to me,” Wade wrote. He also talked about what he saw as his family’s and society’s unfair discrimination against sex offenders. Wade later said in a deposition that Adhahn considers himself a victim “because he feels like his family turned their back on him when he raped his sister.” He was convicted in that case and forced to register his address with law enforce- ment. Zina, Adhahn told the agents, was a target of opportunity. He said he drove his van into the alley behind her house and waited for her to come by after he saw her riding her bike. Adhahn said he got out of the van, walked toward her and offered a greeting when she according to Wade’s report. He then began driving toward his Parkland home. When he got home, the girl was dead, Adhahn told the FBI agents. He went into the house, drank some beer, then brought Zina’s body inside, where he molested it. Adhahn said he later rolled her up in a blanket and put her into a small The family contends Pierce County and the state did not do enough to monitor Adhahn and that the City of Tacoma was negligent for not issuing an Amber Alert for her sooner entered the alley. He grabbed her when she turned away, covered her mouth with his arm and, despite her struggles, dragged her into the van. Adhahn said he drove off the Hilltop to a secluded area where he bound her hands and feet with plastic ties and put a rag in her mouth and secured it with another tie, room where he stored his tools. The next day he went to work. A few days later, he drove her body to Silver Lake in eastern Pierce County and dumped it. He later took her clothes to Tiger Mountain in eastern King County and dumped them there, he said. A federal judge in 2001 first granted him a new sentencing hearing because of the trial judge’s instructions on aggravating and mitigating factors. Philadelphia prosecutors have been fighting the order since, but the 3rd Circuit ruled against them in a pivotal 2008 decision. In rejecting a similar claim in an Ohio death-penalty case last year, the Supreme Court ordered the Philadelphia appeals court to revisit its Abu-Jamal decision. On Tuesday, the 3rd Circuit judges stood their ground and noted differences in the two cases. Under Pennsylvania law, Abu-Jamal should have received a life sentence if a sin- gle juror found the mitigating circum- stances outweighed the aggravating factors in Faulkner’s slaying. The three-judge appeals panel found the verdict form con- fusing, given its repeated use of the word ``unanimous,’’ even in the section on miti- gating circumstances. ``The Pennsylvania Supreme Court failed to evaluate whether the complete text of the verdict form, together with the jury instruc- tions, would create a substantial probability the jury believed both aggravating and mit- igating circumstances must be found unani- mously,’’ Judge Anthony J. Scirica wrote in the 32-page ruling. The decision upholds the 2001 ruling by eXPerTS Pierce County medical examiners ruled the girl died of blunt force trauma to the head with “asphyxia secondary to smother- ing” as a contributing factor. An expert hired by the Linnik family does not agree with that finding and has request- ed records from the Medical Examiner’s Office to review. “My review of the photographs and autopsy report suggest alternative or addi- tional pathological diagnosis are probable,” Dr. Sigmund Menchel wrote in an affidavit filed earlier this month. Adhahn told FBI agents he doesn’t remember hitting the girl but it’s possible, given his state of mind at the time. He said he didn’t intend to kill her. “Just wanted to give the hurt, pain, humil- iation that I felt,” Adhahn said. The FBI agents asked him what would have happened had he not been caught. Would he have raped and possibly killed again? “Would say yeah,” Adhahn replied. His dreams are haunted, he said, by visions of Zina’s eyes. Mumia continued from page 1 Abu-Jamal’s worldwide followers “don’t know the facts,” Williams said. Defense lawyers said the ruling addresses “an unfortunate chapter in Pennsylvania history.” ``Pennsylvania long ago abandoned the confusing and misleading instructions and verdict slip that were relied on in Mr. Abu- Jamal’s trial in order to prevent unfair and unjust death sentences,” said Widener University law professor Judith Ritter, who argued the most recent appeal in November. “Mr. Abu-Jamal is entitled to no less consti- tutional protection.’’ Tuesday’s ruling is the latest in Abu- Jamal’s long-running legal saga. U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr., who first ruled that the flawed jury instruc- tions warranted a new sentencing hearing. While prosecutors were fighting that ruling, Abu-Jamal has been trying unsuccessfully to have his conviction overturned. Faulkner, a white 25-year-old patrolman, had pulled over Abu-Jamal’s brother on a downtown street at about 4 a.m. one morn- ing in 1981. Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter, was working as a cabbie at the time. Hundreds of vocal supporters and death- penalty opponents regularly turn out for court hearings in his case, even though Abu- Jamal is rarely entitled to attend. april 27, 2011 The Seattle Skanner Page 3
