Fernando Bermudez

Who is Fernando Bermudez?

Fernando Bermudez is a New York City resident who was convicted in 1992 of murdering a teenage boy in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. He was later acquitted. Bermudez is currently a guest speaker for the Innocence Project.

Bermudez was the accused gunman in a 1991 shooting that killed a 16-year-old boy outside a nightclub after an altercation. Eyewitnesses identified Bermudez from police photographs and then a lineup. However, four of Bermudez' friends testified that he was with them, miles away, at the time of the crime; friends of the boy who was killed also said Bermudez wasn't the shooter. No forensic evidence linked him to the crime.

Ultimately, Bermudez was convicted and sentenced to serve 23 years to life in prison. However, five eyewitnesses to the alleged crime later recanted, and he was acquitted in 2009, on actual innocence grounds, after serving 18 years.

Media outlets in the New York City area covered the Bermudez case consistently from 2007 throughout his acquittal. He was represented by attorney Barry Pollack, who had successfully acquitted Long Island native Martin Tankleff of murder charges in 2003.

In 2011, Bermudez filed suit against the City of New York for $30 million.