From [HERE] For the second time in nearly 20 years, Joan Purser-Gennace took the witness stand in a Queens courtroom, but this time her testimony was starkly different: Much of what she testified to two decades ago — words that helped convict a Black man of a murder — was a lie, she said, spoon-fed to her by police detectives.

“Everything, it was provided to me from the police — the lies,” she said on Monday in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, at a hearing on behalf of Robert Jones, who is serving 25 years to life after he was convicted of the 1994 murder of Antoine Stone, a street preacher, in Far Rockaway, Queens.

Ms. Purser-Gennace said that although she told the police she could not properly identify the man, they proceeded to coach her with pictures, telling her whom to pick out of a lineup, and mapping out a script for her day in court.

“They said, ‘This is how I want you to say it,’ and it was a lie,” Ms. Purser-Gennace testified. In the audience, several of Mr. Jones’s family members burst into tears. [MORE]

Robert Jones was convicted of the shooting death of a Black street preacher in Queens, New York, two decades ago, but he is hopeful that Monday’s recantation from the star witness, who said she was forced to identify him, will help prove his innocence. He is serving 25 years to life. 

The New York Times reported that Joan Purser-Gennace said police detectives coerced her to identify Jones even though she couldn’t, going as far to visit her home nearly 10 times to persuade and coach her. 

The police and prosecutors responsible for Jones’ conviction came into question after Jones’ legal team filed a motion to vacate the verdict based on ineffective counsel, the recantation of two witnesses and the possibility that exculpatory information was not given to defense lawyers. A second witness who testified to seeing a man flee the scene on a bike matching Jones’ bike is expected to recant that testimony in the coming days.