Jury Questions In H. Rap Brown Trial

Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday in the murder trial of the one-time Black Panther formerly known as H. Rap Brown, with prosecutors questioning the makeup of the heavily black panel.

Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, now a Muslim cleric, is charged with killing a Fulton County sheriff's deputy and wounding another in March 2000.

The surviving deputy is expected to testify that Al-Amin fired at them when the black officers tried to arrest him on minor charges.

Al-Amin, who was captured four days later after a gun battle with authorities near Montgomery, Ala., says it's a case of mistaken identity.

He also said the murder charge is the latest chapter in a government conspiracy that has dogged him since his days as a high-profile Black Panther.

Prosecutors challenged the racial and gender makeup of the jury — six black men, three black women, two white women and one Hispanic woman.

Defense attorneys said they removed potential jurors for their views on a range of issues, including the death penalty, religion and the Black Panthers, which Al-Amin once led.

"I believe what we have done today is legally correct and appropriate, and this is our jury," Fulton Superior Court Judge Stephanie Manis said shortly after the jury was announced. "It's a different jury than the pool, but all of the reasons have been good."

Also selected were five alternate jurors: three black women, one black man and one white man.

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