NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A New York State Supreme Court justice has ruled a man who spent 18 years in prison for murder is innocent, officials say.
Fernando Bermudez was not immediately released, however, as the status of a sentence he received for pleading guilty to drug distribution after being arrested in the murder case had yet to be resolved, The New York Times reported.
The time served in state prison does not count toward his 27-month federal sentence, one of Bermudez's lawyers said, but efforts were planned to secure his release.
Bermudez, 40, broke down Thursday as Justice John Cataldo overturned his conviction and dismissed charges. A gallery of supporters sobbed and applauded. It was his 11th attempt to overturn the 1991 conviction.
Cataldo not only overturned the conviction, he dismissed the charges altogether, meaning Bermudez cannot be tried again for the crime, barring an appellate court reversal.
A year after Bermudez was convicted of murdering Raymond Blount, 16, after a fight inside a Greenwich Village club, five witnesses who had identified him as the killer at trial recanted, accusing police and prosecutors of coercing or manipulating them.
Several repeated their recantations in September at a hearing before Cataldo.
