Abu-Jamal's legal team also released a statement taken Thursday from the death-row inmate at a state prison in Greene County in which Abu-Jamal denied for the first time having being involved in Faulkner's slaying.

Beverly said Abu-Jamal had nothing to do with the slaying but came upon the scene after Faulkner was shot. Beverly claimed he "shot Faulkner in the face at close range."

Beverly said that other police officers were present when the shooting occurred but that he was not concerned because "I believed that since I was hired by the mob to shoot and kill Faulkner, any police officers on the scene would be there to help me."

Beverly said that Abu-Jamal had been shot by a uniformed cop who arrived on the scene.

In response to the affidavit, Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham said, "The affidavit . . .is so clearly ridiculous that it should be obvious to any fair-minded person that it is a complete fabrication."

Abu-Jamal, now 45, was convicted of shooting Faulkner, who had pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in an early-morning traffic stop. Faulkner, 25, was found shot at 13th and Locust and Abu-Jamal was lying nearby, wounded by a bullet from Faulkner's gun, and not from another cop's gun as Beverly alleged. Abu-Jamal's gun, with five spent shells, was also found.

In his affidavit, Beverly also stated that after the shooting, "I left the area underground through the speedline sysytem and by pre-arrangement met a police officer who assisted me when I exited the speedline underground about three blocks away. A car was waiting for me and I left the center city area."

Abu-Jamal's attorneys refused to disclose the whereabouts of Beverly or any other details about him or the other man Beverly claims was hired to assist in the alleged hit.

In his statement, Abu-Jamal said: "I did not shoot Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. I had nothing to do with the killing of Officer Faulkner. I am innocent."

He said he did not testify at his 1982 trial because his rights had been denied throughout the proceeding. Abu-Jamal said his former attorney had told him not to testify during appeals.

"Now for the first time, I have been given an opportunity to tell what happened to me in the early morning hours of December 9, 1981," Abu-Jamal said. His statement was released by Abu-Jamal's new legal team, which took over the case last month.

While Abu-Jamal's jailhouse writings about the justice system have made him a cause celebre among death-penalty opponents, he has said little about the death of Faulkner.

"Executing the wrong person will not bring justice to Daniel Faulkner," Abu-Jamal attorney Elliot Lee Grossman said yesterday. Abu-Jamal, who was a cabbie when the slaying occurred, said he was filling out a trip sheet in his cab when he heard what sounded like gunshots, saw people running, then saw his brother staggering.

"As I came across the street, I saw a uniformed cop turn toward me, gun in hand, saw a flash, and went down to my knees," Abu-Jamal said in the statement.

"I closed my eyes and sat still, trying to breathe," Abu-Jamal said. "The next thing that I remember, I felt myself being kicked, hit, and being brought out of a stupor. When I opened my eyes, I saw cops all around me."

Abu-Jamal said he was rammed into a utility pole and then beaten several times, once at the door to a hospital where he was taken. He denied ever confessing to the crime, as prosecutors said he had.

Abu-Jamal's brother, William Cook, also released a statement yesterday saying a friend of his had admitted taking part in the shooting. Cook did not testify at his brother's trial.

"I had nothing to do with the shooting or killing of the police officer. My brother, Mumia Abu-Jamal, had nothing to do with shooting or killing the policeman," Cook said. He said he did not see who shot Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal's former attorney, Daniel Williams, said that the document had been in the legal team's files but that he and attorney Leonard Weinglass had decided not to use it. He declined to say why, and Weinglass said he would have no comment.

Abu-Jamal filed a motion in federal court March 6 asking to dismiss Williams and Weinglass, who had represented him since 1992. U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. granted Abu-Jamal's request for new counsel.

In his just-published book on the case, Williams advocated a more moderate legal approach than wanted by what he considers the "extremist pro-Mumia" groups. Abu-Jamal is now represented by lawyers who have previously filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case. A former radio reporter and Black Panther, Abu-Jamal has maintained that he was framed by police and that his defense was undermined by an incompetent trial attorney.