For over 18 years Fernando Bermudez has been serving time as an innocent man. He was convicted of the 1991 murder of Raymond Blout and was serving a 23-years-to-life sentence when a judge "threw out the conviction last week saying police and prosecutors mishandled the case and a key witness lied" (ABC 7 News).
There are two questions now: will Bermudez have to serve time on an unrelated federal drugs charge and will the murder investigation reopen?
The drug charge requires a 27-month sentence to be served. His New York criminal defense attorney is trying to have that seen as "time served", which would mean that the 18 years that he spent in state prison would count towards the federal sentence.
In regards to whether or not the case will be reopened, it is still unclear. Usually, a judge will announce that a case has been reopened when the "supposed" criminal is cleared of the charges. Since the judge in this case did not do so, we will have to wait for future developments.
Related Resources:
- New York Criminal Defense Attorney Directory (FindLaw)
- The Steps Of A First Appeal (FindLaw)
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