“Charles Goldblum’s Nightmare.”
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the trial of Charles Goldblum, reportedly for the premeditated murder of George Wilhelm, was a sensation. Goldblum, a young tax attorney and part-time law professor, was the son of a prominent rabbi.
And it didn’t take a soothsayer to see that the case, which garnered front pages of the city’s news, could make or break a career of anyone involved. That was his promise as well as his curse. For Goldblum, it was even worse, for it’s one thing to be tried for sensational murder; it’s quite another to be tried and innocent.
Don’t take Goldblum’s word for it, but consider the words of his prosecutor, Peter Dixon, and that of his trial judge, judge Donald Zigler. Dixon, writing in a sworn affidavit made years after trial, pronounced Goldbum not guilty of the Wilhelm murder and called the trial a miscarriage of justice. Judge Zigler wrote to the Pennsylvania Parole Board several times concluding that if it were a bench trial instead of a jury trial, he would have acquitted Goldblum
Goldblum, known as Zeke by his friends, fell victim to one Clarence Miller, a man described as having the mentality of a child and the known confabulator, a rare word, the core of which is fable. Miller took three lie detector tests and failed every one of them.
When Pittsburgh police arrived at the crime scene, they found Mr. Wilhelm bleeding from over a score of stab wounds. He looked up and his last words were “Clarence, Clarence Miller did that to me.” In law, that’s known as a dying declaration, one of the most credible forms of evidence.
Charles Zeke Goldblum, convicted for the February 9th, 1976 murder of Wilhelm, continues to fight for his freedom.
For more information, contact www.freezeke.com.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.