FILED: NYS COURT OF CLAIMS 02/25/ :55 PM CLAIM NO NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/25/2016

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1 FILED: NYS COURT OF CLAIMS 02/25/ :55 PM CLAIM NO NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/25/2016 STATE OF NEW YORK: COURT OF CLAIMS x REGINALD CONNOR, -against- VERIFIED CLAIM FOR DAMAGES THE STATE OF NEW YORK x To the Clerk of the Court of Claims: To the Attorney General of the State of New York: Claimant, Reginald Connor, by and through his attorneys, the law firm Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, alleges as follows: 1. The residence and post office address of claimant Reginald Connor is 648 Cleveland Street, Brooklyn, New York All correspondence should be delivered, however, to his counsel, Nick Brustin, Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, 99 Hudson Street, 8th Floor, New York, New York 10013, telephone number: (212) INTRODUCTION 2. This claim on behalf of Reginald Connor is for damages arising under the Court of Claims Act 8-b, known as the Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act. Mr. Connor spent nearly fifteen years wrongfully imprisoned in New York State correctional institutions, and over seven and one-half years on parole, for a crime he had nothing to do with: the kidnapping of sixteen-year-old Jennifer Negron, who was subsequently found dead. 3. DNA testing conducted in 2009 confirmed that Mr. Connor is innocent; hairs recovered from the victim s naked body and pubic combings were tested, and Mr. Connor was excluded from being their source. Additionally, none of the physical evidence that was forensically tested 1 1 of 16

2 during the investigation including hair evidence, blood, a rape kit, and fingerprints ever linked Mr. Connor to the crime. 4. Mr. Connor did not cause or bring about his own wrongful conviction. Rather, this miscarriage of justice was the direct result of egregious misconduct by the NYPD detectives who investigated the murder. The record-setting violence and chaos of East New York in the early 1990s fostered a culture of misconduct in the 75 th Precinct of the New York Police Department, which investigated Ms. Negron s murder. Confronted with an escalating number of homicides and a drug trade spiraling out of control, 75 th Precinct detectives closed cases quickly, often using illegal investigatory tactics. 5. The investigation at issue in this case is a textbook example of the 75 th Precinct s misconduct. Detectives quickly identified Mr. Connor as a suspect without cause and induced Brunilda Capella, a regular informant, to fabricate a statement claiming that she had seen Mr. Connor abduct the victim. Detectives then misrepresented and falsely testified that the incriminating statement had originated with Capella. 6. Records initially withheld from the defense prove that the detectives were focusing on Mr. Connor before they ever spoke with Capella (the informant). Detectives also withheld Capella s status as a police informant and other material exculpatory information. 7. Capella (the informant) also falsely identified another man, Everton Wagstaffe, as being involved in the crime. Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe did not know each other before being wrongly accused of this crime. 2 2 of 16

3 8. Mr. Connor was indicted on the charges of murder in the second degree and kidnapping in the first degree, indictment number 1545/92, for the kidnapping and murder of Jennifer Negron. A true and accurate copy of his indictment is attached as Exhibit A Mr. Connor entered a plea of not guilty and was tried before a jury in Supreme Court, Kings County, from January 14, 1993, through January 27, The evidence at trial was so weak that Justice Gloria Goldstein, who presided over Mr. Connor s trial, refused to submit the murder charge to the jury. 11. Mr. Connor was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree on January 27, A copy of the portion of the transcript of Mr. Connor s criminal trial in which the jury announced its verdict is attached as Exhibit B. 12. On February 22, 1993, Justice Goldstein sentenced Mr. Connor to a prison term of twelve and one-half to twenty-five years. A true and accurate copy of Mr. Connor s Sentence and Commitment Order is attached as Exhibit C. 13. Although he has always adamantly and consistently maintained his innocence, including to the parole board, Mr. Connor was able to obtain parole in Mr. Connor was in custody from the time of his arrest on January 31, 1992, until he was initially released on parole on August 3, He was re-incarcerated on June 4, 2007, however, when the terms of a new sex offender program 2 required that he admit guilt, and he refused. Mr. Connor was again paroled and again re-incarcerated before being released for the final time on parole on January 5, A certified copy of Mr. Connor s Certificate of Incarceration is attached as Exhibit D. 1 In an effort to obtain a more legible copy of the indictment, Plaintiff requested a copy of his trial file from the Records Department of the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, but was advised that his file could not be located at this time. 2 Plaintiff was not convicted of a sex offense, but New York s Sex Offender Registration Act requires a person convicted of kidnapping a child under the age of seventeen to register as a sex offender. See N.Y. Sex Offender Registration Act 168-a. 3 3 of 16

4 14. During the post-conviction investigation new evidence came to light, including that documentary evidence of fraud was initially withheld by the prosecution in violation of its Brady obligation, that the prosecution further violated its Brady obligation by withholding Capella s status as an informant, and that the car identified by Capella as the abduction vehicle could not have been used in the crime. Mr. Wagstaffe filed a Notice of Motion to Vacate Conviction in the New York Supreme Court, pursuant to C.P.L , which Mr. Connor joined. 15. On September 17, 2014 over 21 years after Mr. Connor s conviction the Second Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court vacated that conviction and dismissed the indictment pursuant to C.P.L (1)(b) and (1)(h). The court found evidence of fraud, noting that the documentation of the detectives four requests for information on Reginald Connor before they ever spoke with the informant reveal that the defendants were being investigated by the New York City Police Department prior to the detectives interview of Capella, a fact that was contrary to the testimony of one of the investigating detectives that the interview with Capella on January 2, 1992, led the police to the defendants. People v. Wagstaffe, 992 N.Y.S.2d 340 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). A true and correct copy of the Order vacating the convictions and dismissing the indictments is attached as Exhibit E. 16. In all, Mr. Connor spent 14 years and 356 days in prison or jail as a result of being wrongfully arrested for and convicted of this crime. Of that time, Mr. Connor spent 5,039 days, or 13 years and 294 days, incarcerated in New York state custody, as well as 7 years and 244 days on parole under New York state supervision all for a crime he did not commit. 4 4 of 16

5 BACKGROUND 3 INVESTIGATION AND MISCONDUCT 17. Early in the morning on New Year s Day, 1992, the body of sixteen-year-old girl, later identified as Jennifer Negron, was found naked from the waist down on the side of a road in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, in the NYPD s 75 th Precinct. 18. Early notes taken by a detective suggested a drug angle to the crime, specifically that Negron had a dispute with a drug dealer at the Cypress Hill Housing Projects. And the victim s neighbor told the police that she had seen three unfamiliar men in Negron s building s lobby on the night of the crime. 19. But despite this early generation of authentic leads, the 75 th Precinct detectives immediately and without cause began to focus the investigation on Reginald Connor, who was known to them, but who had no actual connection to the crime. 20. Sergeant Michael Race, the sergeant in charge of the investigation of Negron s murder, admitted that of the 750 murder investigations he supervised at the 75 th Precinct, only one was done correctly. 21. Police records reflect that detectives submitted four separate requests for photographs and information regarding Mr. Connor prior to their first conversation, in the late afternoon on January 2, 1992, with the informant Brunilda Capella about Negron s murder. One request was submitted on January 1, and three were submitted during the early afternoon on January On the afternoon of January 2, 1992, after detectives had run the four records checks on 3 Reginald Connor did not kidnap or kill Jennifer Negron, and he has no personal knowledge of or involvement in this horrific crime. All the descriptions in this Claim concerning the circumstances of the crimes, as well as portions of the investigation for which Mr. Connor was not personally present, are based upon trial and hearing testimony, police reports, and independent investigation. 5 5 of 16

6 Reginald Connor, Brunilda Capella visited the 75 th Precinct. The detectives recognized Capella as a regular police informant and a severe heroin addict who supported herself with prostitution. 23. While Capella was at the 75 th Precinct, detectives spoke with her about the crime. Wanting to implicate Reggie Connor in the crime but lacking any evidence against him, the detectives fed her the name Reggie and used undue suggestion or coercion to elicit a statement from Capella implicating Mr. Connor in the crime. The detectives also induced Capella to select the photograph of another man, Everton Wagstaffe, from a photo book. She identified Wagstaffe as a second perpetrator. Upon information and belief, the detectives promised favorable treatment and/or leniency to Capella in exchange for these false statements. 24. Once they had obtained these false witness identifications, the detectives abandoned legitimate investigatory efforts and focused solely on bolstering their case against Reginald Connor and Everton Wagstaffe. 25. The detectives caused Brunilda Capella to falsely identify a brown 1983 Buick Skylark as the vehicle used in the crime. Years after Reginald Connor s conviction, appellate counsel spoke to the owner of the car and discovered that it was double-parked at a church service and immovable in the early morning hours of January 1, 1992 New Year s Eve; it could not have been used in the crime. In fact, the investigating detectives had spoken with the car s owner and knew this information in 1992, but they failed to document that conversation and did not disclose it to the criminal defendants. 26. To bolster Capella s identification, detectives also pressured a friend of the victim s into stating that she saw Reggie Connor driving the same Buick Skylark on the night of the crime. 27. Forensic testing conducted on items recovered from the Skylark confirmed the car owner s explanation that her car could not have been used in the crime. Police recovered 6 6 of 16

7 numerous hairs, fibers, fingerprints, and pieces of physical evidence including hair accessories and blood-stained work gloves. Forensic testing on the items failed to link Connor, Wagstaffe, or Jennifer Negron to the car. 28. The detectives intentionally ignored other indications of Reginald Connor s and Everton Wagstaffe s innocence. After viewing photographs of Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe, the victim s neighbor told the police that they were not the suspicious men she had seen in the lobby on the night of the crime. And there was no connection between Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe, or between these men and the victim. 29. Upon information and belief, if the detectives had conducted a minimally adequate investigation by speaking with neighbors and those close to the victim s family, they would have discovered that it was common knowledge around the neighborhood that Negron s mother Elsie Jimenez owed money to her drug dealer, a young man who was friendly with her daughter. Upon information and belief, the detectives would have further discovered evidence that Jimenez had heard that her drug dealer was upset and looking for her around the time of the crime, so she checked herself into the hospital in order to avoid a potentially violent confrontation. This evidence emerged during the post-conviction investigation regarding Mr. Connor s and Mr. Wagstaffe s convictions. 30. Despite the absence of any physical evidence to corroborate Capella s false account of the crime and the substantial evidence of Connor s innocence, as well as evidence pointing towards the true perpetrator, the prosecution moved forward with the case against Mr. Connor on the basis of the investigating detectives fabrications. Throughout the investigation, grand jury proceedings, pretrial hearings, and trial, detectives actively misrepresented that Mr. Connor had been identified as the perpetrator by a reliable eyewitness without pressure or influence by the 7 7 of 16

8 police, when in fact he had been targeted without cause by the police mere hours after Negron s body was discovered. PROSECUTION AND WRONGFUL CONVICTION 31. On March 3, 1992, Mr. Connor was indicted on the charges of murder in the second degree and kidnapping in the first degree. He was arraigned on these charges and pleaded not guilty. 32. Reginald Connor s and Everton Wagstaffe s prosecutions were joined, and both defendants moved to suppress identifications purportedly made by a witness, the identity of whom was not disclosed at that time. At the pretrial Wade hearing held on December 17, 1992, Detective Jeffrey Wright, the lead detective on the case, repeated his out-of-court misrepresentations regarding the circumstances of Brunilda Capella s identification of Reggie Connor as a perpetrator of the crime. Specifically, Wright falsely testified that Capella was the original source of the name Reggie in connection with the investigation of the crime. Justice Goldstein denied the motions to suppress. 33. Reginald Connor and Everton Wagstaffe were tried jointly before a jury. The trial lasted from January 14, 1993, through January 27, At trial, the only direct link between the criminal defendants and the crime was testimony from Brunilda Capella. 35. After Capella repeatedly failed to appear to testify at trial, the police went to great lengths to secure her presence. She missed the first several days of trial and initially could not be located. Police then found her high on heroin and in possession of a crack pipe. They requested that a judge remand Capella into their custody, and they brought her into a hospital to receive medication for withdrawal. Capella was discharged from the hospital, where she had spent three 8 8 of 16

9 days being treated for withdrawal, on the morning of the day she testified in court. By her own admission, Capella was still experiencing symptoms while she testified at trial. 36. Capella testified that she saw Mr. Wagstaffe violently abduct Negron from the sidewalk in front of her apartment building by pulling her into a car that Mr. Connor was driving. She falsely identified the Buick Skylark as the abduction vehicle and stated that there was a third unidentified man in the car. 37. Although Capella was very close with Negron s family and often lived with them, she claimed that instead of calling the police or reporting the abduction to the victim s family in time to help Ms. Negron she turned and walked to her aunt s house, where she stayed without mentioning the crime to anyone until the day after Negron s body was found. 38. On cross-examination, Capella explained that she was too afraid to go to the police with a tip an explanation that the jury apparently accepted. However, unbeknownst to the defense but known by the investigating detectives, Capella had frequently gone to the police claiming to have witnessed crimes. Though unregistered, Capella acted as an informant for at least one officer in the 75 th Precinct, and she had provided unreliable information on many occasions over the course of multiple years. The detectives intentionally withheld this critical impeachment evidence from the prosecution and defense attorneys in order to secure Mr. Connor s conviction. 39. The evidence introduced to support the murder charge was so weak that the judge refused to submit that charge to the jury. She submitted two alternative charges to the jury: one count of kidnapping in the first degree, and one count of kidnapping in the second degree. 40. The jury convicted Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe of second degree kidnapping the lesser of the two charges submitted to the jury. They were each sentenced to terms of twelveand-one-half years to twenty-five years in prison. 9 9 of 16

10 EXONERATION 41. Mr. Connor appealed his conviction, but the conviction was affirmed by the Appellate Division, Second Department on September 18, Mr. Connor then sought leave to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, but his application was denied on August 20, Everton Wagstaffe first sought DNA testing of the forensic evidence in this case in The City initially claimed it could not locate the evidence, and the petition was denied. 43. Much of the evidence was subsequently located, and on January 20, 2009, a laboratory conducted testing on six hairs and/or fibers found on the victim s body. The testing excluded both Reginald Connor and Everton Wagstaffe as the contributors of any of the hairs that could be tested. The hairs tested included two foreign hairs from the victim s pubic combings the appearances of which indicated that they came from two different people and multiple hairs recovered from the surface of the victim s body. 44. In addition to definitively not being the sources of the foreign hairs found on the victim s body or pubic combings, no forensic or DNA evidence ever linked Mr. Connor or Mr. Wagstaffe to the crime in other ways; they were not matched to material recovered in the rape kit or from under the victim s fingernail scrapings, and none of their fingerprints, hairs, blood, bodily fluids, or other source of DNA from were found on or near the victim s body. DNA testing also excluded both Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe from being the source of the blood on the work gloves found in the Buick Skylark. And Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe were never linked to any of the evidence, including fingerprints and hairs, found in that vehicle. 45. And, in addition to obtaining exculpatory DNA evidence and uncovering exculpatory and impeachment evidence long withheld by the police and prosecution, Mr. Connor and Mr of 16

11 Wagstaffe had clear documentary evidence demonstrating that their convictions were obtained by way of fraud and misrepresentation: The early requests for photographs and reports regarding both defendants predated Capella s conversation with the 75 th Precinct detectives, revealing that Capella could not have been the original source of the identifications. This was contrary to the misrepresentations made by the detectives in police reports, to the prosecution, and in sworn testimony at the Wade hearing and during trial. 46. Similar misconduct by 75th Precinct officers and detectives around this time led to several other known wrongful convictions, including that of Jeffrey Blake, who spent nearly eight years in prison due to similar misconduct by two of the same detectives, and Timothy Crosby, who spent nearly twelve years in prison. 47. Everton Wagstaffe filed a Notice of Motion to Vacate Conviction in the New York Supreme Court, pursuant to C.P.L Mr. Connor joined that motion on June 11, Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe asserted that the prosecution violated its Brady obligations when it failed to timely disclose the police records showing early requests for information regarding Connor and Wagstaffe; that the police wrongfully failed to disclose Capella s informant status; that their convictions were obtained by fraud and misrepresentations; that newly discovered evidence warranted a new trial; that their trial attorneys were ineffective in not seeking information about the Buick Skylark; and that the totality of the evidence demonstrated their actual innocence. 49. The Supreme Court held hearings on some of the claims raised in the 440 motions. That court initially denied the motion to vacate, but its decision was reversed by the appellate court. 50. Mr. Connor and Mr. Wagstaffe raised a number of challenges to the lower court s 440 decision, but the appellate court addressed only two of the arguments, which were factually of 16

12 intertwined: (1) that police records show that the convictions were obtained by way of fraud or misrepresentation under C.P.L (1)(b), and (2) that those same police records were initially withheld in violation of the Brady rule, under C.P.L (1)(h). 51. The appellate court agreed with Connor and Wagstaffe that the detectives false representations that the identifications originated with an eyewitness and that suppression of the police records which would have exposed those lies amounted to misconduct that that led to the petitioners wrongful convictions. In dismissing the indictments, the court noted the lack of any other evidence [besides Capella] tying the defendants to the crime and questioned the credibility of the detectives who misrepresented that Capella was the source of the identifications specifically whether the detectives, without an evidentiary basis, had identified Connor and Wagstaffe prior to Capella s identification of them. People v. Wagstaffe, 992 N.Y.S.2d 340 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). 52. Though the Order vacating the convictions and dismissing the indictments did not specify the subsection of C.P.L pursuant to which it vacated Mr. Connor s conviction, the accompanying Memorandum opinion addressed and credited the petitioners related arguments under C.P.L (1)(b) and (1)(h). Thus, the convictions were vacated and indictments dismissed pursuant to C.P.L (1)(b) and (1)(h). CLAIM 53. Mr. Connor re-alleges and hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 52 herein. 54. Mr. Connor was convicted of second degree kidnapping, a felony against the State of New York, and was sentenced to a prison term of twelve and one-half to twenty-five years. See Exhibits B and C. Mr. Connor was arrested on January 31, 1992, and was detained while he awaited trial. He was convicted, sentenced, and began serving his sentence in the New York state of 16

13 prison system on April 3, Mr. Connor was paroled for the first time on August 3, 2004; he was re-incarcerated on June 4, 2007; he was released again on parole on July 10, 2009, and he was again re-incarcerated on August 27, Mr. Connor was released for the final time on parole on January 5, His sentence was vacated, and thus his term of parole ended, on September 17, In total, Mr. Connor spent 5466 days incarcerated and 2799 days on parole for a crime he did not commit. See Exhibits C, D and E. These exhibits demonstrate that Mr. Connor has met the requirements of Court of Claims Act 8-b(3)(a). 55. On September 17, 2014, Mr. Connor s judgment of conviction was vacated by the Second Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, pursuant to C.P.L (1)(b) and (1)(h), and the indictment against him dismissed. See Exhibit E. This exhibit demonstrates that Mr. Connor has met the requirements of Court of Claims Act 8-b(3)(b) and 8-b(3)(c). 56. Mr. Connor neither kidnapped nor murdered Ms. Negron, nor did he participate in any way in that horrible crime. He did not commit any of the acts charged and is actually innocent of the crimes of which he was indicted, and the crime for which he was convicted. 57. Mr. Connor did not by his own conduct cause or bring about his conviction. Rather, his conviction was caused by the misconduct of the 75 th Precinct detectives charged with investigating the case. So that they could quickly close the case, the detectives purposefully obtained a false identification from a regular police informant, hid her status as an informant, and misrepresented that she was the original source of Mr. Connor s identification as a suspect. They then bolstered this false account of the crime by obtaining a false identification of the car used in the crime and additional consistent statements from other witnesses. And at the time of the Wade hearing and until the first day of trial, the prosecution withheld the documentary evidence that of 16

14 would have brought the detectives fraud and false testimony to light. Mr. Connor is entitled to relief for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment under the Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act, Court of Claims Act 8-b. DAMAGES 58. Reginald Connor was confined in the custody of the State of New York or its agents for 5039 days from April 2, 1993 to August 3, 2004; from June 4, 2007 to July 10, 2009; and from August 27, 2010 to January 1, See Exhibits C, D, and E. Overall, Mr. Connor spent 5,039 days, or 13 years and 294 days, incarcerated in New York state custody, as well as 7 years and 244 days on parole under New York state supervision all for a crime he did not commit. 59. The injuries and damages sustained by Reginald Connor arising from his unjust conviction and imprisonment include but are not limited to the following: loss of freedom; pain and suffering; physical injuries, including injuries from physical altercations with guards and other inmates, the worsening of injuries due to inadequate medical care, and the development of hypertension and high blood pressure; severe mental anguish; emotional distress; loss of family relationships; severe psychological damage; loss of property; legal expenses; loss of income; humiliation, indignities and embarrassment; degradation; permanent loss of natural psychological development; and restrictions on all forms of personal freedom including but not limited to diet, sleep, personal contact, educational opportunity, vocational opportunity, athletic opportunity, personal fulfillment, sexual activity, family relations, reading, television, movies, travel, enjoyment, and expression. As a direct result of his unjust conviction and imprisonment, many of the effects of these disabilities continue to this day and will continue into the future. 60. Reginald Connor s wrongful conviction also caused him to miss much of his children s childhoods. Reginald Connor s son, Reginald Bruno, was one year old when his father was of 16

15 falsely arrested for this crime. Reginald Bruno was twenty-three years old when Reginald Connor s conviction was finally vacated. Though Reginald Connor was out of prison on parole for some portion of his son s teenage years, his wrongful conviction caused Reginald Connor to miss the entirety of his son s childhood and the majority of his adolescence. Mr. Connor s daughter Nylah was born after he was first released on parole, but his subsequent incarceration caused him to miss approximately four years of Nylah s childhood. 61. Mr. Connor s wrongful conviction also caused him to have to register as a sex offender, a status that caused significant mental anguish; social stigma; restrictions on liberty; loss of property; interference with familial relationships, including the inability to be alone with his children and strains on his marriage; and financial burdens. 62. Mr. Connor can never regain the almost 15 years of his life during which he was wrongfully incarcerated by the State of New York and the additional seven and one-half years spent on parole. At a minimum, he deserves some measure of compensation for the time, opportunities and experiences that were taken from him and the damages he has suffered and continues to suffer as a result. By reason of the foregoing, Reginald Connor is entitled to damages in a sum in excess of TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS ($20,000,000). Dated: New York, New York February 16, 2016 /s/ Emma Freudenberger Nick Brustin Emma Freudenberger Julia L. Torti NEUFELD SCHECK & BRUSTIN, LLP 99 Hudson Street, 8th Floor New York, New York (212) Attorneys for Claimant Reginald Connor of 16

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