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Bernard Vindiola was convicted of the shooting murder of Thomas J. McCoy, a security guard at the Peek-a-Boo Bar in Fowler, CA.  At the time of the shooting, Bernard, his brother, Eddie Vindiola, several sisters and some friends were at the bar.  Christina Vindiola got into a fight with her sisters, Rosie and Elena, and with Eddie's girlfriend, Martina Rocha. McCoy attempted to intervene and stop the fight. In the process he was shot three times, and later died as a result.  After the shooting, Christina Vindiola remained at the bar. She told a number of people that her brother, Eddie, had a gun and had shot the security guard.  She would later testify that she made those initial statements because she was angry with Eddie.  She stated that she did not know whether Eddie had a gun or had shot the victim.

At Bernard's trial, his defense was that Eddie had shot the victim.  Bernard's girlfriend was not involved in the fight or with the security guard, but Eddie's girlfriend was.  Only one witness, Vaughn Donabedian, claimed to have seen Bernard shoot McCoy.  His testimony was questionable for several reasons:  (1) The lighting condition in the bar was dark, and it was crowded with 75 to 85 people.  (2) Shortly after the shooting, Donabedian said the assailant was 5 feet 10 inches tall and in his late 20's or early 30's.  Eddie was 5 feet 9 inches tall and 28 years old.  Bernard, however, was 6 feet 1 inch and 21 years old.  (3) Donabedian was positive that the killer had gotten in the back seat of a car just before it drove away.  However, there was testimony that Eddie, who was unable to drive, got in the back seat, whereas Bernard was in the front seat driving.  (4) The day after the shooting, Donabedian was shown a group of photographs, including Bernard's, but could not identify any of them as the assailant. (5) Donabedian was shown a physical lineup three days later and identified someone other than Bernard as the killer. He later claimed at trial that Bernard had been in that lineup, which was incorrect.

In 1979, a state appeals court overturned Bernard's conviction because the defense was prohibited from introducing Eddie's prior conviction of auto theft to impeach his testimony.  The court also cited other reasons and noted in its opinion the weight of evidence was in favor of Bernard.  It is not known if Bernard was retried, but the Northwestern Law School website lists him as an exonerated person.  (People v. Vindiola)  [10/08]

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