Man Acquitted of Murder in ’93 Disappearance : Courts: Circumstantial evidence and unreliable testimony led to the not guilty verdict against Evans York, who was accused of killing a Northridge teen-ager.

VAN NUYS —  A Van Nuys jury on Friday found a 20-year-old Porter Ranch man not guilty of the 1993 murder of a Northridge teen-ager whose body was never found.

Prosecutors had charged that Evans York killed Michael Azzaro in order to steal the younger man’s car.

Deputy Public Defender Kenneth Lezin said the jury acquitted York because the case was based on circumstantial evidence and unreliable testimony.

“While one interpretation of the circumstances was that my client was the killer, there were other reasonable interpretations,” Lezin said. “They were not satisfied that the prosecution had proved he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and they did the right thing.”

Deputy District Atty. John Asari said he was disappointed by the jury’s verdict, which took the panel about three days to reach, but not surprised.

The case, he said, had hinged upon the testimony of April Cotton, who told police 10 days after Michael disappeared that she overheard York admit the crime. She told authorities then that she heard York explain the crime this way, using street slang:

“Blood, I can’t go back to the Valley . . . I snatched the blood up out of the car and I pulled out the strap on him, and when I busted, I just jumped in the ---- and boned out.”

Police contended that the slang phrases meant the speaker had pulled someone out of a car, put a gun on him, fired the gun and then jumped in the car and left.

But although Cotton repeated her testimony at a preliminary hearing, Asari said she changed her testimony during the trial. She told the jury this time that she had heard the alleged admission not from York, but from a third party.

And although prosecutors played the jury a tape recording of Cotton’s original interview with police, Asari believed it was not enough.

“We had to argue: Believe the truthfulness of this witness when she was interviewed 10 days after the incident rather than her testimony under oath,” Asari said. “The jury indicated (after the trial) that they believed that York had something to do with it but just couldn’t overcome the inconsistencies in April Cotton’s testimony.”

Prosecutors also told the jury last week that York, who knew Azzaro, had been seen driving Michael’s new red Isuzu Rodeo the day after the teen-ager disappeared. He added that phone company records during that same time listed calls from Michael’s car phone to York’s guardian.

“I’m disappointed because the family needed some kind of closure,” Asari said. “If there had been a conviction of his killer, that would be helpful in terms of their dealing with this tragedy.”

York is still in custody in connection with an alleged incident involving a hand-crafted knife, or “shank,” while in jail, Asari said.