I put an innocent man in prison
'96 slay witness says cops made her lie
A Queens woman dropped a bombshell during a court hearing Monday when she testified that cops “pressured” her to lie on the witness stand in a 1996 murder trial that left a man locked up for the past 18 years.
Joan PerserGennace, 57, said detectives threatened her and her family as they demanded that she finger Robert Jones as the man she saw outside her window shortly before the slaying of Far Rockaway street preacher Antoine Stone.
She told the court that, despite her testimony, she didn’t recognize the man.
“The lies were provided to me by the police,” PerserGennace said. “The police said, ‘This is how I want you to say it.’ It was all a lie.”
She made the claim at a hearing in Queens Supreme Court in which a judge will decide if Jones
The police said,
‘This is how I want you to say it.’ It was all a lie. — Joan Perser-Gennace, speaking of her testimony against Robert Jones (left)
gets a new trial. The Queens DA’s office is fighting to keep Jones locked up.
PerserGennace told the court she was “catching a breeze” from the window of her Mott Avenue home on Sept. 9, 1994, when she noticed two men talking outside.
“One of the gentlemen looked up at me, he had a bike, but I couldn’t recognize him,” she said.
She didn’t see what happened next. But a few moments later Stone was shot dead.
“I told the detectives almost 10 times that I didn’t recognize the guy . . . they threatened my family, asked for my legal status . . . I was afraid,” she said. She eventually agreed to go to the precinct.
She said cops gave her a folder filled with mug shots and coached her to memorize Jones’ face.
“I was reluctant to do the lineup . . . I didn’t identify the guy,” she said.
Jones, 45, had allegedly been having a sexual relationship with Stone. The victim, who was known around the area as “The Preacher,” wanted to end their relalationship because of his Christian bbeliefs.
Jones’ lawyer Christopher Jorallemon showed PerserGennace a ssigned document from the lineup in which she identified his client.
“They told me to sign the form and we will fill it up later,” she said.
PerserGennace told the court that on the day of the trial in March 1996 she told prosecutor Debra Pomodore she didn’t recognize the man from the lineup.
“She got mad and told the detectives ‘She’s messing this up,’ ” she said. “I was afraid. I lied because I had to — not because I wanted to,” added PerserGennace.