Veronica Jones, a witness in the case against Mumia
Abu-Jamal, died Dec. 8. We announce this with sympathy to her friends and
family, and in recognition of her heroic stand against Judge Albert Sabo—the
hanging judge—in October 1996. That was when she testified that she had been
coerced by the Philadelphia Police Department to lie about the night, Dec. 9,
1981, that changed her and Mumia Abu-Jamal’s lives forever.
 Veronica Jones participated at a Free Mumia rally in Philadelphia April 9, 2998. Photo: Pan-African News Wire |
Mumia, a former member of the Black Panther Party, was
framed up for fatally shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner that
night.
Jones had endured many
threats and much bullying when, in 1982, Mumia’s case first went to trial. In
1996, when the time came for Jones’ testimony in Mumia’s Post Conviction Relief
Act hearings, the attempts at coercing her began again. Judge Sabo threatened
her with five to 10 years’ imprisonment if she testified to having perjured
herself in Mumia’s trial. Jones nonetheless defiantly admitted to perjury in
her 1982 testimony. In that testimony, she changed her initial statement to
police that she had seen two men “run away” and “leave the scene.”
Jones recalled in her 1996
testimony, being visited by two police detectives in 1982 while being held in
prison for charges of robbery and assault. They urged her to pinpoint Mumia and
stressed that she faced up to 10 years in prison and loss of her children if
convicted of the charges against her.
As any mother afraid of
losing her children might have done, Jones met the police halfway; she did not
actually pinpoint Mumia but was coerced into lying about seeing the two men
running away from the scene. Following this police visit, Jones received only
probation and was never imprisoned on the 1982 charges.
When cross-examining Jones in
the 1996 hearing, the DA announced there was an outstanding arrest warrant for
her on 10-year-old charges of writing a bad check and that she would be
arrested following her testimony. In tears, Veronica declared, “This is not
going to change my testimony!”
Because Jones came forward
with the truth, she was ripped from the witness stand, handcuffed and arrested
(all of this took place in front of her children) after giving testimony that
exposed police coercion of witnesses.
Jones’ powerful testimony and
subsequent support for the worldwide movement that grew up in support of
Mumia’s freedom will never be forgotten. She showed true courage in exposing
the U.S. court system and the Philadelphia Police Department for their clear
and unjust agenda.
