Criminal Charges
The New Jersey shootout would not be the only criminal case Assata Shakur was involved in. In fact, between 1973 and 1977, she was indicted ten times in New York and New Jersey for two bank robberies and eight felonies stemming from the New Jersey shootout.
While three were dismissed altogether without going to trial, seven of the indictments reached criminal proceedings. Of these, Shakur received three acquittals, one hung jury, one change of venue, one mistrial, and one conviction.
As the trial for the New Jersey Turnpike shootout began, Shakur was pregnant, which resulted in a mistrial. Shakur gave birth to a girl in September 1974. Kakuya Amala Olugbala Shkaur was born at Elmhurst General Hospital in Queens, New York. As a criminal, Assata Shakur was returned to Rikers Island a few days later. The baby’s father was Fred Hilton.
The trial for the shootout incident was to be moved because polls at the time revealed the residents in Middlesex, which is where Acoli had already been found guilty three years earlier, showed that over 80 percent knew her identity and 70 percent felt she was guilty already. As a result, the jury was chosen from Morris County. Shakur’s trial proceedings remained in Middlesex under Judge John E. Bachman.
The Trial Finally Takes Place
Three years later, Shakur was retried for the New Jersey Turnpike shootout in 1977 even though Acoli had already been convicted of Trooper Foerster’s murder on the notion that he fired the bullets.
Again, Shakur attempted to unsuccessfully move the trial to the federal court on the basis of her Muslim religion. However, her petition was denied. She attempted to withhold trial proceedings on the Muslim Sabbath, which is Friday but this was denied, too. The trial lasted nine weeks; hundreds of civil rights activists gathered at the Middlesex County Courthouse every single day.
Shakur was called as a witness on March 15, 1977. As she was questioned by her own defense team, she denied shooting either trooper. She claimed she did not handle a gun the entire night. Upon cross-examination, she was unable to explain how 16 live shells and three magazines of ammunition fell into her shoulder bag. Although known as JoAnne Chesimard and Assata Shakur, her I.D. card said Justine Henderson the night of the murders.
She testified in detail that Trooper Harper shot her only after she raised her hands in the air to comply with his demand. A second shot then struck her in the back because she turned to avoid it. Shakur claimed she then fell to the road for the remainder of the shootout. After everything was clear, she crawled back into the Pontiac and Acoli drove them about five miles down the turnpike.
Initially, Trooper Harper testified at Acoli’s trial; he claimed that the suspects began firing immediately as soon as the second police car came on the scene, but during Shakur’s trial, Trooper Harper recalled a different story. He said Trooper Foerster found a pistol and magazine clip and forced Acoli and Shakur to put their hands up and not move. Rather than complying, he testified that she pulled out a gun from a pocketbook and shot him in the shoulder. Ultimately, Acoli’s gunned jammed and, after a short struggle, Trooper Foerster was shot with his own gun by Acoli.
With all of the back and forth, it is hard to keep track of what really happened on that fatal night. Official reports show what Trooper Harper said happened: after the vehicle was stopped, Acoli was ordered to the back of the vehicle. Trooper Foerster arrived on the scene by now and was set to examine Acoli’s driver’s license; statements report that he complied.
At this point, Trooper Harper checking the registration and looking inside the vehicle. Trooper Foerster yelled at Acoli and held up a magazine clip; Assata Shakur simultaneously retrieved a gun from her pocketbook and shot Trooper Harper. He ran for the rear of his car for recovery; Shakur also hit the ground and continued to fire from outside of the Pontiac. Despite having documented statements, Trooper Harper admitted at both Acoli’s and Shakur’s trials that he fabricated on these reports.
Shakur’s legal team provided medical testimony explaining that she was shot in her right arm at the median nerve. A neurologist claimed that she would have been unable to pull the trigger of a gun physically. No gunpowder residue was found on her fingers according to the neutron activation analysis that was administered the same day of the shootout. In fact, Shakur’s fingerprints were not on any of the guns used at the scene of the crime.
The Verdict
JoAnne Chesimard was convicted on March 25, 1977, on eight counts including two murder charges and six assault charges. The state prosecution did not need to prove that she fired the fatal shots or even had a gun at the scene. She was an accomplice of the murders of Trooper Foerster and Zayd Shakur, which carried a life sentence under the New Jersey law.
Not only was she sentenced to life in prison, but she also received 26-33 years on top of that because sometimes life sentences are shortened due to parole. This way, she would be forced to serve a full sentence.
During her time in prison, Assata Shakur was transferred to several different prisons including New Jersey State Reception and Correction Center in Yardville and Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women in New York City among others. She was subject to cruel and inhumane conditions and was even forced to stay as the only female at an all-male facility.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights determined in 1979 that Shakur’s imprisonment was “totally unbefitting any prisoner.” Upon investigation, they discovered the abuse of her human rights was “one of the worst cases” and she was included in “a class of victims of FBI misconduct through the COINTELPRO strategy and other forms of illegal government conduct who as political activists have been selectively targeted for provocation, false arrests, entrapment, fabrication of evidence, and spurious criminal prosecutions.”
On the other hand, the Amnesty International did not agree that Assata Shakur was a political prisoner.
Assata Shakur escaped prison on November 2, 1979. While at the Clinton Correctional Facility in New Jersey, three visitors, who happened to be members of the BLA held two guards as hostages using concealed pistols. The hijackers took control of a prison van and helped Shakur flee. Mutulu Shakur, her brother, and Silvia Baraldini were charged with helping her escape. Three other people were also convicted for the escape.
