Witness for Abu-Jamal Arrested on Stand
A former prostitute who recanted her testimony of 14 years ago against death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested on the witness stand Tuesday during her cross-examination by prosecutors.
The arrest of Veronica Jones on a bad-check charge outraged defense attorneys, who condemned the move as an example of witness intimidation they claim police and prosecutors have used to railroad Abu-Jamal toward execution for the 1981 slaying of a police officer.
Then a black activist and radio reporter, Abu-Jamal was found wounded a few feet from his own gun and Officer Daniel Faulker, who was dying.
Jones had just testified that she lied during Abu-Jamal’s 1982 murder trial when courtroom deputies arrested her.
“It’s brutal, it’s coercive, it’s shocking,” Abu-Jamal attorney Leonard Weinglass said.
Before her arrest, Jones testified that she saw two other men running from the crime scene, but changed her story under pressure from police.
She bitterly denied Assistant Dist. Atty. Arlene Fisk’s suggestion that Abu-Jamal’s defense had paid more than $4,000 in overdue rent for her fiance.
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