9/12/2018 Incarcerated for 17 Years for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, Man Sues New Haven, Investigating Officers I Connecticut

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Incarcerated for 17 Years for a Murder He

Didn’t Commit, Man Sues New Haven,

Investigating Officers
By Robert Storace (/ctlawtribune/author/profile/Robert Storpce/) I September 11 2018 at 03:16 PM

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Vernon Horn has sued the city of New Haven after spending 17 years in prison for a murder he (hps://www.lawcom!ther
didn’t commit. courtesy photo 2018-go-to-law-schools-
california-edition!?
kw=lncarcerated%20for%2
A 37-year-old man wrongly imprisoned for 17 years has filed a federal civil rights Email&pt=ConnedicutLawl
lawsuit against four former police officials and the ity of New Haven THE RECORDER t/THERECORDERI)

fhtips://www.newhavenct.gott), claiming evidence that would have cleared

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him sat in a detective’s home basement. Male Lawyr’
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Vernon Horn will seek “eight figures” in the litigation against the city, three jgreat-to-be-a-whlte-mak
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former New Haven police detectives and a former firearms examiner employed by kw’Incarcerated%20for%2(
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the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory, stemming from convictions
THE AMERICAN LAWYER
in 2000, according to his attorney. He was released from prison in April after
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Connecticut Superior Court judge Patrick Clifford vacated his murder and robbery
State Farm Pays $250 Milli’
convictions, on the recommendation of New Haven State’s Attorney Pat Griffin, who
to Settle Suit Alleggj
said the state no longer had confidence that Horn was responsible for the crimes. M!pulated Judge Race
,fhps:llwww.law.comIcorp
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9/12/2018 Incarcerated for 17 Years for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, Man Sues New Haven, Investigating Officers I Connecticut Law Tribune

See the full complaint here: rnn!pubted-j!4ge-race/?

kwlncarcerated%2Ofor%2(
Email&pt=ConnecticutLawl
CORPORATE COUNSEL
/C0RPCOUN5ELI).

LEAN ADVISER LEGAL (/LEAN

ADVISER)STATICILEAN-ADVISER/?
CMP=LARMLDC)

Think Lean Daily

Message
A helpful image is the
client leaning out of train
window while it gathers
pace, as you run alongside
Get out the key nuggets
first and in order of
importanca The rest is
waffle that the client doesn
t want to hear, read or pay
In a strongly worded, 58-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of for.
Connecticut Friday, Horn’s attorneys paint a picture of New Haven police officers and
Learn More (/Iean
a forensic examiner deliberately ignoring evidence that would have cleared Horn in
adviser/static/Iean-adviserfl
the 1999 New Haven deli robbery and murder of Caprice Hardy. cmp=LARMLDC)

“The New Haven Police Department hid 137 pages of exculpatory phone records in a
detective’s basement for nearly two decades. They coerced and threatened
witnesses,” the lawsuit states. “They fabricated evidence. They destroyed evidence.
They failed to investigate evidence that would have exonerated an innocent man.”

The stinging complaint continues: “A forensic examiner [defendantJames

Stephenson] with the Connecticut State Police secretly manipulated his report to fit
the testimony of the state’s key witness. Then he failed to disclose the manipulation
or the new report to the defense.” Stephenson, who now has his own Madison-
based forensic consulting business, did not respond to a request for comment
Tuesday.

The crux of the case: evidence that could have easily exonerated Horn, according to
his lawsuit, which cites 137 pages of phone records from a cellphone stolen from the
robbery that Horn’s attorneys say was used by the actual killers.

Those phone records, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder attorney Sean McEllig
tht.tps:/Iwww.koskoff.com/Lawyers-Staff/Sean-Mcelligott,shtml) told the
Connecticut Law Tribune Tuesday, were in the basement of the home of now-retired
New Haven Police Detective Petisia Adger.

McElligott, one of four plaintiff attorneys in the case, said, “The phone records prove
Mr. Horn’s innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt. They were never disclosed to the
defense in the case. They were withheld from the defense.”

https://www.law.com/ctlawtribune/201 8/09/11/incarcerated-for-i 7-years-for-a-murder-he-didnt-commit-man-sues-new-haven-investigating-officers/?kw... 2/6

9/12/2018 Incarcerated for 17 Years for a Murder He Didnt Commit, Man Sues New Haven, Investigating Officers I Connecticut Law Tribune
McElligott said he’s seeking at least “eight figures” in monetary damages. He also said
he isn’t sure why New Haven police allegedly withheld evidence, other than to keep
to a narrative that Horn was the murderer.

“They ignored evidence and

followed a theory, despite the
fact thatthe truth did not
support that theory,” he said.
alt’s a classic situation of the
police creating facts to
support a bad theory, as
opposed to following facts.”

Adger has an unlisted

telephone number and was
not available for comment
--

Tuesday.
Sean McElligott of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder. Courtesy photo
Noting the recent cases of
Scott Lewis and Bobby]ohnson, who were also exonerated after spending time in
prison following investigations by the New Haven Police Department, McElligott said:
“This says they knowingly put an innocent man in jail and it was not the first time.”

The current lawsuit only seeks monetary damages and McElligott said he would not
address whether he’d pursue other charges against the defendants down the road.

McElligott said the new evidence in the case would not have been unearthed if not
for the hard work of attorneys in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the
District of Connecticut.

There have been no other suspects named to date in the murder. Neither New
Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell or New Haven Police Public Information
Officer David Hartman responded to a request for comment on either the status of
the investigation or the lawsuit itself.

In 2014, Superior CourtJudge Robert Young set aside Horn’s convictions after more
than a week of witness testimony. The state appealed the vacating of the conviction
and in 2076 the Connecticut Supreme Court reinstated the conviction and Horn went
back to prison. While he was out of prison for those two years, his attorneys said he
got married and had a daughter.

McElligott said he’s confident a jury will find in favor of his client.

“1 really think it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to be caught up in the jaws of the state
for a crime you did not commit,” McElligott said. “This was a spectacular failure of the
criminal justice system. Mr. Horn has always maintained his innocence, but he was
surrounded by people for 17 years that did not believe him. He was surrounded by
people who thought he was a liar and a murderer. I think ajury will be very
empathetic to a person in that situation.”

Horn issued a statement through his attorneys soon after he was released.

https://www.Iaw.com/ctlawtribune/201 8/09/11/incarcerated-for-I 7-years-for-a-murder-he-didnt-commit-man-sues-new-haven-investigating-officers/?kw... 3/6

9/12/2018 Incarcerated for 17 Years for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, Man Sues New Haven, Investigating Officers Connecticut Law Tribune

The statement read: What happened to me was not only a crime against me, it was
a crime against humanity. I was falsely prosecuted and lied about by people who are
supposed to be public servants. I suffered emotionally, and I was physically and
mentally abused in prison.”

The next step in the case, McElligott said, is to depose witnesses, including the four
named defendants. In addition to the city, Adger and Stephenson, also named is
Leroy Dease, formerly a New Haven police detective and current investigator for the
state, and Daryle Breland, also a former New Haven detective. Breland has since
retired. Neither Dease or Breland responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, New Haven and the four defendants had not been
assigned an attorney. New Haven Corporation CounselJohn Rose Jr. referred all
comment to Laurence Grotheer, director of communications for the office of the
New Haven mayor. At press time, Grotheer had not responded to a request for
comment.

Assisting McElligott on the matter are Koskoff Koskoff & Rieder’s Matt Blumenthal,
and llann Maazel and Douglas Lieb of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady.

Related Stories

New Haven Man Jailed For 17 Years Freed AfterJiJ.ge Vacates Murder, Robbery
Convictions (p://www.courant.com/breaki ng-news/hc-br-vernon-horn
released-wrongful-conviction-201 80425-story.htm 1*)

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Robert Storace
Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits
and analysis for the Connecticut Law
Tribune. Follow him on Twitter
@RobertSCTLaw or reach him at 203-437-
5950.

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