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Court reverses convictions of New York men in 1992 kidnapping

Everton Wagstaffe, convicted more than 20 years ago of kidnapping a teenager found dead in New York, refused any release that would have required him to admit he was involved.

By Frances Burns
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson speaks to the media in New York City in 2011 while he was still in private practice. UPI/John Angelillo
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson speaks to the media in New York City in 2011 while he was still in private practice. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutors were involved in "burying" information that would have undercut their case against two men convicted of kidnapping a teenager in 1992, a New York appeals court said.

The court unanimously quashed the convictions and indictments Wednesday of Everton Wagstaffe and Reginald Connor. The judges said information that would have shown the key prosecution witness and police detectives lied was kept hidden.

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Wagstaffe and Connor were found guilty of kidnapping Jennifer Negron, 16, whose body was found in the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn on New Year's Day in 1992. They were not charged with murder because of a lack of evidence.

Much of the research in the case was done by Wagstaffe, who entered jail as a nearly illiterate 23-year-old. He discovered that detectives had looked for information on him and his co-defendant a day before they interviewed Brunilda Cappella, a drug-addicted prostitute who supposedly linked them to the crime.

Wagstaffe is still in prison after refusing any offer of release that would require him to admit responsibility for Negron's kidnapping or death. A relative told the New York Times he learned of the decision in a phone call.

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"You cry for both of us -- I want to research part of it," the relative quoted him as saying.

Connor now works for a film production company after serving 15 years.

In recent years, the two men won the pro bono services of high-powered lawyers. They included Myron Beldock, who represented George Whitmore, a man who gave false confessions to two killings in the 1960s.

The decision Wednesday overturns another false conviction won by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Kenneth Thompson, who was elected district attorney last year, has set up a panel to examine old cases.

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