#505 Jason Flom with Fernando Bermudez

Wrongful Conviction

On August 4, 1991, at a nightclub in New York NY, some teenagers began taunting each other and words escalated to punches. When the teenagers came out of the club prepared for a fight, a man shot and killed16-year-old Raymond Blount.

Police showed mug shots of several men to a group of Blount’s friends who initially identified a former classmate nicknamed “Wool Lou” as the shooter. After some deliberation, some of the witnesses identified 21-year-old Fernando Bermudez as the shooter. One of the witnesses later made a deal with the prosecution to identify Fernando Bermudez as the gunman in return for not being charged in the case. Fernando, who passed a polygraph examination and presented alibi witnesses in his defense, was charged and convicted with second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.

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