Alimohamed trial to begin soon

Jury selection and pre-trial motions for four of the men accused of murdering fifth-year Mathematics graduate student Al-Moez Alimohamed will continue tomorrow, according to Mathematics Department Graduate Chairperson Wolfgang Ziller. Common Pleas Judge James Fitzgerald presided over the trial, which began Friday. A fifth man, Khaalis Edmonson, 18, was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Sheldon Jelin last month to three years in a maximum security juvenile facility for the murder of Alimohamed. Ziller added that the jury will hear opening statements either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the length of jury selection and pre-trial motions. Alimohamed was shot last August after five males robbed him of a small amount of money and personal belongings while he was walking to his apartment at 48th and Pine streets. Director of Victim Support Maureen Rush said all four suspects will face a minimum sentence of life in prison. Rush also said that former Penn student Rebecca Rosin, who dated Alimohamed, committed suicide on December 26. Rosin was a student at the University, but dropped out in the beginning of her sophomore year in the fall of 1994 after Alimohamed's death. Rosin had attended the trial of Edmonson, and had closely followed the the proceedings. Assistant District Attorney Roger King charged three of the suspects with murder in the first degree, which carries a possible death sentence. The other suspect was charged with second-degree murder with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to Ziller. Edmonson, who was 16 years old at the time of the incident, was tried as a juvenile and will be released from juvenile detention when he turns 21 in three years. He was also found guilty of robbery, simple assault, death by unlawful taking, reckless endangerment, theft by unlawful taking and possession of an instrument of crime and criminal conspiracy. Ziller said Penn students should attend the trial to show their support for Alimohamed. He added that, according to the District Attorney's Office, it is important for the family and acquaintances of the victim to be present because they can influence the outcome of a jury trial. Ziller has established a web page to honor Alimohamed and to provide information about the trial. The web site is "http://www.math. upenn.edu/~wziller/moez.html". The jury trial will begin at 9:30 a.m. and there will be a bus leaving in front of the David Rittenhouse Laboratory every day at 9 a.m. once the jury portion of the trial commences. Ziller said that it is his goal to have 10 to 15 members of the Penn community present at the trial each day.