Ex-Black Panther, Resident in Ghana, settles lawsuit with NYC

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- On the eve of a federal civil rights trial, a former black panther and the city of New York settled a 25-year-old case for $490,000, a case in which he charged he had been wrongly imprisoned for the attempted murder of two city police officers.

Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, 56, formerly Richard Moore, told reporters he had looked forward to the trial because he thought it would vindicate him. "We wanted to end an old lawsuit," said an attorney with the city's Corporation Counsel. The city admitted no liability in the settlement.

Wahad was convicted of attempted murder in 1973. He served 19 years in prison until his conviction was overturned in 1990 by a state judge who ruled that government prosecutors did not turn over material that might have helped in his defense. After he was released from prison he moved to Ghana.

Attorneys for Wahad examined more than 300,000 documents collected decades ago by the FBI, saying they were obtained to discredit the Black Panthers. Wahad claimed the government documents would prove that he had been "maliciously prosecuted."

In 1971, he was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Officers Thomas Curry and Nicholas Binetti, who were guarding the home of then Manhattan District Attorney of Frank Hogan. The officers survived but were injured.