New Book Reveals Judicial Flaws in Notorious Triple-Murder Trial

Fort Lauderdale — "Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption" chronicles the true story of three drug dealers who were brutally murdered in 1983 on Danger Road in the Florida Everglades. Lured into a phony drug deal each victim hoped would be his big retirement score, they allegedly found themselves at the business end of a gun wielded by a Miami-Dade police officer. But police and prosecutors say Officer Gilbert Fernandez, Jr. and his crew weren't there to arrest the drug dealers. They were there to execute them and steal their eight kilos of cocaine.

"Danger Road" details the transformation of Fernandez, a former Mr. Florida bodybuilding champion, black-belt karate instructor and alleged violent mob hit man, who by many accounts had turned his life around during the intervening years between the 1983 murders and his triple-murder indictment in 1990. The man once named "Miami's Meanest Cop" no longer abused and intimidated people like he did when he was a police officer; he was now a loving father who lived to convert people to Christianity. In spite of this radical transformation, Fernandez found himself on trial for his life in 1991. "Danger Road" is the story of that trial, told by the defense attorney who represented him, John P. Contini.

Using archival newspaper articles, trial transcripts and interviews with trial participants and the defendant, "Danger Road" exposes the behind-the-scenes machinations of our legal system. The book reveals details about the judge and prosecutors who were unconvinced by Fernandez's transformation, and were hell-bent to send him to the chair. Because of this bias and the leaking of prejudicial material to the media, Contini felt it was clear that some important people wanted to see Fernandez executed. They were even willing to immunize four convicted felons, one who claimed to be a participant in the murders and others who were major narco traffickers.

"Jim Lewis and his team of prosecutors had no physical evidence, yet they were obsessed with winning at all costs. The prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not convictions, but in pursuit of the electric chair, these prosecutors gave blanket immunity to narco traffickers and a killer. There's no question they essentially purchased the testimony of these felons in their insatiable thirst for the death penalty. You could almost see them salivating over the thought of putting him in "Old Sparky," Florida's electric chair," Contini said.

One of Contini's goals when writing the book was to cause readers to take another look at the way our society dispenses justice. But "Danger Road" also has a more personal side. The book gives readers a unique insider perspective on Contini's role as a defense attorney in a highly publicized capital murder case. Additionally, the story sheds light on the defendant, who from all appearances had become a completely different person by the time of his trial. Ultimately, after reading the story and the actual letters from the defendant to Contini (included in the book) it's left to the reader to decide whether Fernandez's transformation is real.

For more information on "Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption," visit http://www.DangerRoadTheBook.com.

To view archival TV news footage and newspaper articles from the 1991 Fernandez trial, visit http://www.DangerRoadTheBook.com/releases.html

For more information on John Contini, visit http://www.JPContini.com.