Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Jury Acquits Record Producer Who Claimed Police Retaliation

By DNAinfo Staff on January 14, 2011 7:05pm  | Updated on January 15, 2011 10:28am

Clarence Jones weeps as a jury finds him not guilty of obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
Clarence Jones weeps as a jury finds him not guilty of obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
View Full Caption
Steven Hirsch/Pool

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A record producer who claimed he was arrested in retaliation for reporting two white Harlem police officers for having a black doll head on their patrol car antenna was found not guilty on Friday.

Clarence Jones, 30, had been charged with obstructing governmental administration and resisisiting arrest in 2008.

He said he was arrested and abused by a swarm of police officers in the 25th Precinct — just a week after he and state senator Bill Perkins made noise about the doll and its disrespectful message. They considered it offensive and racist.

Jones said he was dragged from his SUV after receiving a parking violation for idling in a no-standing zone at Madison Avenue and East 116th Street on July 27, 2008. Police officers threw him to the ground, abused and handcuffed him without telling him why he'd been arrested, he testified at his trial Friday.

Clarence Jones, 30, was acquitted at trial on Friday.
Clarence Jones, 30, was acquitted at trial on Friday.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

He turned down an offer of a jail-free plea deal, choosing to fight the charges at trial.

He was acquitted of both charges after the two-day trial.

Prosecutors argued he flailed his arms, twisted his body and forced the police to handcuff him because of his rowdy behavior.

"I wasn't going to have them fry my record on something I didn't do," Jones told reporters after the verdict.

As the not guilty verdict was read, Jones' eyes welled up with tears and he embraced his attorney, Roger Wareham.

"I felt we were telling the 150 percent truth and I didn't want to take a deal on something I had nothing to do with," Jones said.

Wareham said the six-member jury had to decide from the evidence whether the officers' response was justified, irrespective of the claims of retaliation.

"Whether or not they believe the doll head was involved with it, the officers' behavior just didn't make any sense," Wareham said.

In the days after he made complaints about the doll, Jones said he sensed there would be trouble. He saw patrol cars canvassing his block and officers made mocking gestures at him as they drove by, he said.

Jones is the proprietor of Madface Records, based in Harlem. The father of two said he hopes the outcome of the trial sends a positive message to his community.

He recently filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the city, seeking compensation for medical bills and other interests related to the incident.

His arrest sparked debate about racial senstivity among black leaders in the city.