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The Hajj Womack Case

WOMACK TO USE EXPERIENCE TO HIGHLIGHT INJUSTICES

By SAEED AHMED

For Hajj Womack, the fight for justice is far from over.

The 23-year-old Morehouse alumnus, finally cleared last month on all 105 felony charges stemming from a series of robberies, says he will now try to draw attention to others in similar predicaments.

"Mine was not an isolated incident, and we need to inform the community-at-large of that," said Womack.

"While I was incarcerated, I ran across many brothers who claimed they were innocent but because the system is so muuddled up and because not all of them can afford good legal representation, many of them will be in prison when they shouldn't be."

To highlight such 'injustices,' Womack -- along with the Hajj Womack Defense Fund, which played an instrumental role in keeping his case in the public limelight -- is planning a mini-media blitz.

"We want to show that, just as in my case we managed to sustain public interest through grass-roots organizing, dollar drives and a rally here and there, we can do the same for all these other brothers."

Womack, who returns to Michigan to continue his graduate studies this Fall, also intends to write a book about his experience in the future.

"It won't be just a narrative," he said. "It will have a scholarly twist that deals with the flaws in the judicial system."

Indeed, Womack should know first-hand about such "flaws": He was plucked from Michigan in December 1995, and incarcerated in a maximum-security jail for almost a year, charged with robbing restaurants to fund the activities of a "religious gang."

The inconsistencies in his case numbered so high that even the State admitted he could not have been present at all the hold-ups. Despite this, Womack was repeatedly denied bail until his trial last September.

On October 21, 1995, a Fulton County jury acquitted him on all charges but deadlocked on three counts -- two for armed robbery and one for gang conspiracy.

The counts, however, were dismissed January 23, when the judge ruled that re-trying Womack would amount to 'double jeopardy.'

"In the State's indictment, Hajj was accused of robing these fast-food outlets using a firearm. But since the jury acquitted him on all charges of 'possession of a firearm,' he couldn't therefore be charged with the armed robberies either," said Womack's attorney, George Lawson.

And with Womack being cleared on all counts, the 'gang conspiracy' count had to be dropped because the State no longer had a basis to claim he committed any felony.

Correction: In the Nov. 11, 1996, issue, we incorrectly reported that the 3 charges the jury deadlocked on were 1 for armed robbery, 1 for aggravated assault and 1 for gang conspiracy. It should have read: 2 for armed robbery and 1 for gang conspiracy.