A man wrongfully convicted of a fatal shooting in a Brooklyn video game room more than two decades ago and then deported to his native Guyana will work to return to the United States now that his name has been cleared, his attorney said Tuesday.
A Brooklyn judge vacated the manslaughter conviction of Brian Kendall, 54, who was 17 years old when police accused him of the shooting inside a Flatbush candy store with a game room in 1988. A year later, Kendall pleaded guilty to manslaughter to avoid the possibility of a life sentence, without understanding that the evidence against him was weak, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office said. He served more than 16 years in prison.
Kendall’s current Legal Aid Society attorney and the district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found Kendall was acting as a Good Samaritan after the shooting, running with a group pursuing the actual gunman. In a report released Tuesday, the district attorney determined the evidence shows Kendall is “likely innocent.” The fact that he pleaded guilty does not contradict that finding, the report adds…