AUBURN - Toni Brown leaned in closer and used her sister's leg for balance as the two sat among some 40 family and friends in the crowded Cayuga County courtroom Tuesday.

Eventually, Cayuga County Surrogate Judge Mark Fandrich would overturn Roy Brown's murder conviction and send him home without shackles for the first time since 1992, the year he was imprisoned for the murder of social worker Sabina Kulakowski.

It was the day Toni had been waiting for since she was tearfully forced home from school by the questions teachers and classmates posed to her more than 15 years ago - Did your dad really do this?

The four Brown children now in their 20s continue to defend their father and though three of them took some relief in his temporary release, they also struggled with lost time.

“I'm glad he's out, but there's no way to undo what they've done,” daughter Angel Brown Carr said.

April Brown was glad to see her father's 25 years to life sentence set aside after a difficult childhood and young adulthood spent in foster care and group homes.

“I could care less about the money, if he gets any, I just want to spend some time with him,” she said. “It's a new chapter.”

April, her siblings, and a majority of Brown supporters who came to Auburn Tuesday expressed a healthy disgust with the prosecution.

Many of their first words outside the courthouse accused District Attorney James Vargason of negligence.

“Vargason's a creep,” Roy's brother Don Brown said, refuting the DA's earlier claim he reopened the murder investigation voluntarily. “He had no choice but to do what he did.”

Roy's biological father Wayne Brown was pleased to see what he believes will be the beginning of the end of his son's legal ordeal.

“It's been hell watching what it's done to him,” said Wayne, who was one of the first to embrace his son outside the courthouse.

Others felt a little more closure.

“I finally can honestly say I feel like justice has been served,” Billie Jo Kuczynski said while waiting on the snowy steps of the courthouse to catch a glimpse of her unshackled brother. “I never gave up on him and I never will.”

Many family members were looking forward to Roy Brown's humor.

He was expected to hold court over family dinner.

“Kip was more of the guy with the most jokes,” Don Brown said, referring to his brother. “He'd have you rolling on the floor. That was his thing.”

In the lobby of the Sugarman law firm where Roy Brown and his attorneys had a press conference, Toni Brown relayed updates to her brother James; Angel sat patiently near a window; and April paced the room full of media and family. The 15-year wait was just about over and the mixed bag of emotions was just about to be set aside.

“Wait up, daddy,” April said as she followed the crowd around her father onto Genesee Street.

Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net