Man released from prison after serving 17 years for New Haven killing he didn’t commit

A city man walked out of Superior Court a free man Wednesday after serving 17 years in prison for a 1999 convenience store robbery and murder.

“What took place against me by this criminal justice system is a tragedy, a crime against humanity, and an assault against justice and the United States Constitution. I hope this never happens to anyone else,” Vernon Horn said in the release. “(Many) years of my life were stolen from me, my daughter went without her father. I hope this does not go in vain, but rather the folks who are a part of this system will learn from this mistake to better the system.”

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford vacated 37-year-old Vernon Horn’s 2000 robbery and murder convictions following a motion filed by New Haven State’s Attorney Pat Griffin to set aside the conviction based on previously overlooked cell site evidence and newly discovered telephone records. Griffin informed the court that the state no longer had confidence in the convictions, the release stated.

In light of the newly developed evidence, the State’s Attorney’s Office informed the court, “[t]he totality of information developed to date has sufficiently undermined the state’s confidence in the judgment of conviction such that justice is done by setting the judgment aside and returning the case to the superior court docket.”

Wednesday marked the second time a Connecticut court has vacated Horn’s convictions. In 2014, after hearing eight days of witness testimony, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert E. Young set aside Horn’s convictions. Horn was released on bail while the state appealed the decision, during which time he married and had a daughter. In 2016, however, the Connecticut Supreme Court reinstated the convictions, and Horn was then sent back to prison where he has remained, the release said.

 Horn was 17 years old when he was accused by New Haven police of robbery and the murder of 22-year-old Caprice Hardy, who was buying cigarettes at the Dixwell Deli Jan. 24, 1999.

At trial, the primary evidence allegedly linking Horn to the crime scene was a record of calls made from a cellphone stolen during the robbery, but new evaluation of the cellphone call record established that, based on the location of the cellphone at the time of the calls, Horn could not have committed the robbery and homicide as state prosecutors originally alleged, the release stated.

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