Fernando Bermudez Full Interview — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03so starting today we'd like to talk to
2. 0:06you now Fernando Bermudez who are very
3. 0:08lucky to talk to him he was jailed
4. 0:11wrongly for 18 years almost 20 years in
5. 0:14prison for a murder that he didn't
6. 0:16commit and then now we finally get to
7. 0:19hear your story we get to hear your side
8. 0:20of the story and have you really tell us
9. 0:23what it was like for you so just before
10. 0:25we begin can you tell me how how did
11. 0:29everything happen can you tell me the
12. 0:30the details then we'll get further into
13. 0:33it sure well the summer of 1991 was one
14. 0:36of the happiest times of my life but it
15. 0:39was a time when my life spun out of
16. 0:41control when I was arrested for a crime
17. 0:43I did not commit at gunpoint when my
18. 0:45mother screamed I'm yanked into a police
19. 0:47car and sent to a Precinct where I'm
20. 0:51asked what I did on the night of August
21. 0:533rd and 4th 1991 or I quickly remembered
22. 0:56that I was celebrating my enrollment in
23. 0:58college with my friends my college is
24. 1:00set to begin actually that fall and that
25. 1:03summer my classes were canceled
26. 1:05I tell my truth which is that I wasn't
27. 1:07even at the club and then I'm with my
28. 1:09friends all of whom came to the precinct
29. 1:12and I was shocked when I wasn't believed
30. 1:15I end up being sent to Rikers Island
31. 1:17which is a horrible place of 14 000
32. 1:19yelling and screaming violent inmates
33. 1:21and there I'm forced to endure a trial
34. 1:24in order to prove my innocence further
35. 1:26I'm unaware according to proven evidence
36. 1:30that there had been coercion and threats
37. 1:33of witnesses which we later would prove
38. 1:35in which the Witnesses were given deals
39. 1:39in exchange for their testimony the
40. 1:40charges against them unrelated and
41. 1:42related to this case would be dismissed
42. 1:45I'm shocked when I lose my trial and I'm
43. 1:49given a life sentence and set to an
44. 1:51Upstate New York prison where after a
45. 1:54year Rikers Island horrible as that was
46. 1:56I'm forced to endure another 17 years in
47. 1:58prison where I seek to prove my
48. 2:00innocence
49. 2:02now those years that you spent there in
50. 2:05prison could you tell us what it was
51. 2:07like what what kind of things did you
52. 2:08have to endure while you were there well
53. 2:10I had to endure the humiliation and
54. 2:13indignity of strip searches of being
55. 2:16physically assaulted while I'm there by
56. 2:19both inmates and Correctional guards
57. 2:21it was a very difficult circumstance
58. 2:24that tested the very essence of my
59. 2:25Humanity I grew very sad and very
60. 2:28depressed particularly when I
61. 2:30established evidence of my innocence
62. 2:32early on because the witnesses had
63. 2:34according to their conscience revealed
64. 2:37the reasons why they lied on purpose and
65. 2:39why they were threatened so I felt that
66. 2:41the situation would be resolved sooner
67. 2:43rather than later and I was in for a
68. 2:44rude awakening again and again while
69. 2:47being denied so it tested the very
70. 2:49matter of who I was and it hurt me
71. 2:51deeply because I believed in the
72. 2:52American criminal justice system and I
73. 2:54grew disillusioned
74. 2:56realizing that the situation would grow
75. 2:58more complicated as I lost appeal after
76. 3:01appeal I tried to maintain my faith I
77. 3:04prayed I battled thoughts of suicide and
78. 3:07I overcame that and one of the sources
79. 3:08was the love of my wife who stood by me
80. 3:11throughout my years who gave me
81. 3:12beautiful children and together we
82. 3:14fought the good fight to try to uh
83. 3:17make the truth Prevail as soon as
84. 3:19possible I was able to obtain pro bono
85. 3:22attorneys
86. 3:23who believed in me and started working
87. 3:25free of charge
88. 3:27and this was an amazing development
89. 3:29because
90. 3:31they came in early on and it should have
91. 3:33made a difference but the court refused
92. 3:35to listen refused to even Grant an
93. 3:37evidentiary hearing as the years ticked
94. 3:40by and time crawled in his hands and
95. 3:41knees and it was very depressing very
96. 3:44depressing and just living around
97. 3:46a very violent place in a six by nine
98. 3:48foot cell that I could basically touch
99. 3:52the walls if I stretched on my arms
100. 3:54and so I just tried to survive I
101. 3:56educated myself and I just saw it at
102. 3:58every turn to write as many letters as I
103. 4:00could crying for help
104. 4:02now when you were in that cell the cell
105. 4:05you're just describing what kind of
106. 4:07thoughts were in your head what were you
107. 4:08thinking you tried to educate yourself
108. 4:10but but you were in there for something
109. 4:13that you weren't even there when it
110. 4:14happened what what were you thinking
111. 4:16through the you had a lot of time to
112. 4:18think about it what were you thinking
113. 4:19about well I was just thinking that when
114. 4:21am I going to get out of here I mean am
115. 4:23I going to die in prison that's what I
116. 4:25thought because there was so much
117. 4:26violence around me that I thought that
118. 4:28well someone could be just as delusional
119. 4:30as the next person I've encountered and
120. 4:33moved away from that I can die in this
121. 4:35place tomorrow is not promised so there
122. 4:38was always a level of it I admit fear in
123. 4:41such a Negative place with so many
124. 4:43negative emotions running from idleness
125. 4:45to just
126. 4:47negative emotions across the board and I
127. 4:50just wondered when I was going to get
128. 4:51out I wondered when would finally the
129. 4:54truth Prevail I mean I would look at
130. 4:56those Cold Steel bars in front of my
131. 4:58cell and they would just be there every
132. 4:59morning when I went to sleep and I woke
133. 5:01up and I would see them right there
134. 5:02impenetrable as they were and I would
135. 5:05say Well when is this door going to open
136. 5:06up and I'm going to be a free man when
137. 5:09can I finally go home to my wife and
138. 5:10children and help support them because
139. 5:12my wife was struggling with our children
140. 5:14facing homelessness poverty and so much
141. 5:17and I grew very very depressed and I the
142. 5:20only way I could overcome that was by
143. 5:22exercising my faith and believing that
144. 5:24if I continued fighting that the truth
145. 5:27would Prevail with the help that I
146. 5:28continued accumulating over the years
147. 5:30are you religious
148. 5:32yes I consider myself a Christian I
149. 5:35consider myself a person who believes in
150. 5:37God
151. 5:38who had I think a particular plan for
152. 5:40this situation we might question
153. 5:42suffering in life but it's something
154. 5:44that I felt that
155. 5:46I couldn't necessarily question because
156. 5:47for which there would be no answer
157. 5:49instead what I had to do was believe
158. 5:51that my situation was happening for a
159. 5:54reason and that I would Prevail if I
160. 5:56just maintained
161. 5:58and remained patient and courageous in
162. 6:01fighting against what I felt was almost
163. 6:04an impenetrable Darkness at times
164. 6:06now when going back to the beginning
165. 6:09when you had the police come to your
166. 6:12house at gunpoint and they were telling
167. 6:14you you were accused of this crime you
168. 6:16did something that you didn't do what
169. 6:18was it
170. 6:20did you have any knowledge of the
171. 6:22incident that happened before that what
172. 6:24what did you think what did your family
173. 6:25think when when that happened well I was
174. 6:28shocked I was shocked because I didn't
175. 6:30know why I was being arrested I honestly
176. 6:32did not know and I just heard my mother
177. 6:33screaming from our second floor window
178. 6:35and I was just like wow okay there's a
179. 6:38misunderstanding the situation is going
180. 6:40to get resolved I'll be home by that
181. 6:42night
182. 6:43you know when I was arrested two days
183. 6:45later August 6 1991 and I said okay I'll
184. 6:48be home
185. 6:49and then a situation grew complicated it
186. 6:52just wow it grew worse I mean I was
187. 6:54forced to sit down and line up
188. 6:56and later I would learn that one of the
189. 6:57reasons that that happened was because
190. 6:59the witness that the I should say the
191. 7:02suspect that the witnesses described is
192. 7:05alleged to have stood 511 165 pounds
193. 7:08versus my six foot two 220 pound stature
194. 7:12and so I was told to sit down but even
195. 7:13then I still thought okay this is going
196. 7:16to be resolved that's what I honestly
197. 7:18thought
198. 7:19and
199. 7:22so once once it happened once they got
200. 7:25you
201. 7:27um once you were in jail and then you
202. 7:28needed to your trial came and the
203. 7:31witnesses that lied while you were
204. 7:33trying to to plead your case
205. 7:35what do you think like they found out
206. 7:38later why they lied exactly but why do
207. 7:41you think that that situation happened
208. 7:42to you what what is it that you did that
209. 7:44you think would promote people to do
210. 7:46that to you well that's at times what I
211. 7:48had to question I mean I would question
212. 7:50this in the Solitude of myself I say no
213. 7:53am I such a bad person that this would
214. 7:55happen to me I mean wow I've never
215. 7:57killed nobody in my life why why am I
216. 7:59being charged with murder why do I have
217. 8:01a life sentence
218. 8:02I would ask that but I had no answer as
219. 8:06as I was just bewildered with these
220. 8:08Witnesses lying I didn't know the
221. 8:10reasons or the motivations why they were
222. 8:11doing it I just knew they were wrong and
223. 8:14which is why I wasn't scared to take the
224. 8:15stand and testify on my behalf along
225. 8:18with my friends and even three friends
226. 8:19of the deceased who said I wasn't the
227. 8:21one who shot their best friend and then
228. 8:24as they came out as the witnesses said
229. 8:26that they had lied that this isn't
230. 8:28really what happened even though that's
231. 8:29what they said at the trial why did it
232. 8:32take so many times for your appeal to
233. 8:34work why do you think that it took many
234. 8:37many times and many people to admit that
235. 8:39that's when it happened right well
236. 8:41there's consequences I mean starting
237. 8:43with embarrassment to just even legal
238. 8:46ramifications if it's discovered that on
239. 8:49on a law enforcement watch
240. 8:51somebody was sent to prison for a crime
241. 8:53they did not commit you know people
242. 8:55could lose their jobs and a number of
243. 8:56things and
244. 8:57these are things that I started
245. 8:59realizing
246. 9:00would be involved in preventing the
247. 9:03truth from being you know accepted early
248. 9:06on but most importantly also the judge
249. 9:09refused to even test the evidence
250. 9:11because he was in the position where at
251. 9:14that time when I was convicted in his
252. 9:16courtroom and he didn't hear the whole
253. 9:17story he too was cheated along with a
254. 9:19jury out of the truth which was
255. 9:21misrepresented by the prosecutor
256. 9:24and I felt that when these Witnesses
257. 9:26recanted and we had other accompanying
258. 9:28evidence of my innocence he should have
259. 9:29opened up the proceedings to test it to
260. 9:31see the veracity of it all he didn't do
261. 9:34that because again in his own courtroom
262. 9:37an innocent man was convicted that was
263. 9:39the only let the only thing I was left
264. 9:41to assume
265. 9:43now you are taking this message on the
266. 9:46road you're doing some public speaking
267. 9:48you're trying to tell others and
268. 9:50students why do you want to share your
269. 9:52story well I want to share my story
270. 9:54because what happened to me shouldn't
271. 9:56happen to anyone else it should have
272. 9:58happened to your loved one it should
273. 9:59have happened to any person out of the
274. 10:02world particularly if you didn't commit
275. 10:03a crime it's just a horrible experience
276. 10:06and so I want to help reform the system
277. 10:08I want to educate people about factors
278. 10:11that lead to the innocent being
279. 10:13incarcerated I want to inspire people to
280. 10:16realize that with every adversity that
281. 10:18they face that they can overcome
282. 10:19adversity because I overcame a great
283. 10:21level of adversity I want to make I
284. 10:24should say I want to help the youth
285. 10:26anyone who can listen to me to help make
286. 10:29better decisions about their life and
287. 10:31not take their freedom for granted and
288. 10:33cherish every moment and that's what I
289. 10:35deliver in my messages have you seen any
290. 10:37response to your messages what have you
291. 10:39heard from the people that you talked to
292. 10:41was there any kind of did anyone feel
293. 10:43uplifted from the story that you're
294. 10:44telling absolutely my story has had a
295. 10:47global impact in fact ranging from in
296. 10:50America I've had prosecutors telling me
297. 10:53that from that point on they're going to
298. 10:55be more careful I've had law students
299. 10:57who are going to become prosecutors tell
300. 10:59me the same I've had students change
301. 11:02their Majors into criminal justice to
302. 11:05make a difference when I traveled to
303. 11:07Germany and I spoke before the police
304. 11:09department the police officers told me
305. 11:12they were going to be more careful
306. 11:14in different countries where I speak
307. 11:16they tell me that they're inspired that
308. 11:17they thought they had problems and that
309. 11:19now that they could overcome it after
310. 11:20hearing my story particularly the love
311. 11:22that my wife and I shared through our
312. 11:24incarceration and how she endured her
313. 11:26suffering and how we together we
314. 11:28prevailed can you talk a little bit
315. 11:30about your family life now when what was
316. 11:33your family like when you got into
317. 11:35prison and then how was it afterwards
318. 11:37well my family life began with my
319. 11:40parents and then soon after I met my
320. 11:42wife and she became a strong supporter
321. 11:45of me because she believed in my
322. 11:46innocence she moved from the Midwest all
323. 11:50the way to New York City I mean if
324. 11:52that's not a Harlequin romance I don't
325. 11:53know what is because she believed in my
326. 11:56innocence and she began supporting me
327. 11:57and we had children together
328. 11:59and she would come see me in prison and
329. 12:01give me inspiration while holding down
330. 12:03the fort as it were and in prison I
331. 12:07sought to be a family person a family
332. 12:09man you know taking care of my kids even
333. 12:11though I was limited to what I can do as
334. 12:13a father in prison I sought to do the
335. 12:15best I could for example I sold clothes
336. 12:18while in prison I used my first business
337. 12:20degree earned in prison
338. 12:22to buy clothing wholesale and then I
339. 12:24would retail it in prison two prisoners
340. 12:27in order to send money home so that my
341. 12:29wife could help support
342. 12:30herself and the children now it wasn't
343. 12:32enough as she faced poverty but at least
344. 12:35I was doing my part whenever I could so
345. 12:38being a family man is very important
346. 12:40today I am the school chaperone at my
347. 12:42children's School taking them to the
348. 12:44Hartford Science Center and I just am
349. 12:47involved in their life in the martial
350. 12:48arts and so much else to promote their
351. 12:51well-being and character development now
352. 12:53when you mentioned a degree that you
353. 12:55earned while you were in prison I think
354. 12:57that's a very interesting concept for
355. 13:00students that are here now they're
356. 13:01studying they're getting their degree
357. 13:03could you could you talk about what the
358. 13:05experience was like especially for
359. 13:06students to imagine this is how it is
360. 13:08like for me to get my degree and how was
361. 13:10it like for you well I think that it
362. 13:13doesn't matter on where exactly you get
363. 13:14your degree it counts on what you put
364. 13:16into your degree as an individual that's
365. 13:18what makes a degree worth more than any
366. 13:21ivy league or anything it's what you put
367. 13:23into it and what you make out of that
368. 13:27degree with the inspiration and
369. 13:28Imagination that you develop from the
370. 13:30education you receive at any Institution
371. 13:33and in short what it did for me was that
372. 13:36it opened up possibilities I realized
373. 13:38that I had a coping mechanism while in
374. 13:40prison through education and then an
375. 13:42opportunity to complete my bachelor's
376. 13:45degree when I got out in connection with
377. 13:47the Hudson link higher education program
378. 13:50which partially helped fund my education
379. 13:52while I was incarcerated
380. 13:55um because I would like to ask your wife
381. 13:58some questions after if we can uh talk a
382. 14:01little bit more about your family now
383. 14:02you mentioned your wife was very
384. 14:04supportive through the whole process
385. 14:05though she had to deal with so much uh
386. 14:07at home yes what
387. 14:10um talk about the support or what did
388. 14:13she visit you or I don't know how how
389. 14:15the communication was limited or what
390. 14:17was that like well we were limited to
391. 14:19seeing each other I mean I lived far
392. 14:21away from where she lived I mean I was
393. 14:22in New York state she lived in
394. 14:23Connecticut
395. 14:24and you know it was always an issue in
396. 14:27terms of the distance and the economics
397. 14:28not to mention the humiliation she had
398. 14:30to pass through metal detectors where at
399. 14:32times they requested that she be strip
400. 14:33searched when it was just underwire uh
401. 14:37in wiring her bra that sounded the metal
402. 14:40detector so it was very difficult for
403. 14:42her to bring the children and changing
404. 14:43their diapers and everything like that
405. 14:45but even on a family level in terms of
406. 14:47development and soundness it affected my
407. 14:50family in a negative way because my
408. 14:52parents today still think that I'm
409. 14:54supposed to be a 22 year old who was
410. 14:56arrested in 91 when in fact I'm a grown
411. 14:59man with a wife and children trying to
412. 15:01be responsible and trying to eke out a
413. 15:03living
414. 15:04and they just have some resentment so
415. 15:07this is a situation where post-traumatic
416. 15:09stress disorder has affected me yes my
417. 15:12family but also my parents who need
418. 15:14counseling and haven't sought it yet and
419. 15:17now you you are being very public about
420. 15:19your story you're not trying to hide it
421. 15:20you're not trying to to
422. 15:22apply for a job and not mention that
423. 15:25this occurred or something you're very
424. 15:27public about it now when you are meeting
425. 15:30people and maybe uh people in your
426. 15:33hometown when they heard about that you
427. 15:35were arrested first how are people
428. 15:37treating you now are is anyone still
429. 15:39treating you like they think you're a
430. 15:40murderer is anyone
431. 15:42um is everyone just happy that you're
432. 15:44out or what has the reaction been well
433. 15:46this was I tell you a resounding victory
434. 15:49in the Latino Community I mean I grew up
435. 15:51in Washington Heights predominantly
436. 15:52Dominican neighborhood and throughout
437. 15:54the years I have media supporting me
438. 15:56from 1992 all the way to 2009 and and
439. 16:00Beyond when I was released and this was
440. 16:03a resounding victory for the Latino
441. 16:05Community because they felt that
442. 16:07the youth the person who was arrested
443. 16:10from their Community who got a bad deal
444. 16:11now got a victory and everyone just was
445. 16:15so happy about it that they thought it
446. 16:16happened to them
447. 16:17and so they've been very supportive
448. 16:19about this the Latino Community has
449. 16:21remained very supportive of what
450. 16:22happened to me uh and it's just been a
451. 16:25positive impression
452. 16:27for them
453. 16:28so you haven't had any
454. 16:31difficulty with people have you reached
455. 16:35anyone who's saying that they don't
456. 16:36trust you because of what happened
457. 16:38before even though you the legal system
458. 16:40cleared you yes do do people trust you
459. 16:43yes yes I haven't had an issue I mean
460. 16:46let's talk about trust I was once in a
461. 16:49courtroom as a criminal defendant now
462. 16:50I'm actually lecturing in Hartford and
463. 16:53New Haven federal district courts before
464. 16:55federal judges who invite me in their
465. 16:57courtroom to speak to people who have
466. 16:59been incarcerated and on federal
467. 17:01probation in order to help them make
468. 17:03good decisions so I think that's a level
469. 17:05of trust I mean if a federal judge
470. 17:07invites me to speak
471. 17:09what do you think could be improved
472. 17:11about the justice system to to to help
473. 17:15the situation not happen again I know
474. 17:17that's something you you want to stop it
475. 17:18from happening but what do you think
476. 17:20could be done well I think that we need
477. 17:22to hold uh corrupt prosecutors like
478. 17:24James G Rodriguez the prosecutor
479. 17:26responsible in my case accountable he
480. 17:29knew the evidence from the beginning
481. 17:31uh and he sought not to investigate as
482. 17:34well as according to all the witnesses
483. 17:36and documents of the evidence we have he
484. 17:38coerced and threatened the witnesses
485. 17:40into falsely testifying against me we
486. 17:42also need a level of accountability for
487. 17:44police departments who don't enact
488. 17:45proper protocol with mistaken his
489. 17:48identification reforms which are the
490. 17:51leading cause of why people land in
491. 17:53prison so we need to enact better
492. 17:56safeguards to protect identification
493. 17:58procedures as well those are two major
494. 18:00things that I think we need to address
495. 18:03and one more feeling of yours that I
496. 18:05want to know about is when you were
497. 18:07cleared and then you stepped out and you
498. 18:09had your supporters cheering there what
499. 18:11what was it like for you it was amazing
500. 18:14it was surreal it was an outer body
501. 18:17experience in a good sense unlike the
502. 18:19time I was found guilty which was
503. 18:21totally negative
504. 18:22but I was scared I was fearful I mean
505. 18:25the world had changed so much with the
506. 18:26technology you know 21st century
507. 18:28technology which I had not been
508. 18:30accustomed to the world had changed from
509. 18:32the internet now existing to mp3s and
510. 18:36iPads and all this type of stuff fashion
511. 18:38had changed so much I was just totally
512. 18:41scared really and I couldn't stop eating
513. 18:43food trying to adjust because
514. 18:46food in prison was so horrible
515. 18:48it just took me a lot to adjust it I'm
516. 18:51still adjusting today but it's a good
517. 18:52feeling and it's one that I'm working in
518. 18:55into my life every day for greater
519. 18:57enjoyment through therapy
520. 18:58you talked a little bit about what
521. 19:01you're doing at this time but in a very
522. 19:03serious way you're speaking what you're
523. 19:05doing with your family how about on a
524. 19:07later note are there things that you
525. 19:08missed that you were hoping to do like a
526. 19:10certain vacation or something you want
527. 19:13to do with your kids something that
528. 19:14you've been able to do now that you you
529. 19:16missed but you're very happy you're able
530. 19:17to do now absolutely I mean I take my
531. 19:20kids on things that I've never done
532. 19:21before which I yearn to do while
533. 19:23incarcerated such as pumpkin picking I
534. 19:26take them to the Hartford Science Center
535. 19:28where I chaperone the elementary school
536. 19:31and I tell the kids let's run up the
537. 19:34stairs no elevators you know to promote
538. 19:36Fitness I take them on field trips
539. 19:39and I just interact with the kids so I
540. 19:41love doing that I love just being a dad
541. 19:43to my kids taking them to their martial
542. 19:47art lessons at night time Tuesdays and
543. 19:49Thursdays I love being a husband to my
544. 19:51wife and taking her out on dates we
545. 19:53didn't get to date
546. 19:54when I was incarcerated now we can go
547. 19:56out I'm sure that's exciting it's very
548. 19:59exciting because we can go out and have
549. 20:01a dinner together like normal human
550. 20:03people should
551. 20:04I'm living my life now ways that I
552. 20:07should have lived a long time ago well
553. 20:10thank you very much for sharing that
554. 20:12very intense details of that I think
555. 20:14that a lot of people find that
556. 20:15fascinating if they haven't heard of it
557. 20:17before and I appreciate your time well
558. 20:19you're welcome and I really hope that I
559. 20:21can continue speaking at different
560. 20:22schools and that other schools would
561. 20:23contact me and that I can help them
562. 20:25develop their students to be agents of
563. 20:28change for the better great thank you