Conviction Cuban Santería Santería contexts Miami, FL, USA · 1999

Fernandez — Santeria babalao in a capital-murder case

Request a correction or reply

Record class

Context only

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

See cited record

Organization

No organization assigned

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

The record documents a Santería babalawo and ritual treatment after an unrelated killing. It does not establish that Santería belief or authority materially enabled the homicide, so the case is retained as context.

Spiritual healing or treatment
Ritual, oath, or initiation

Cited record

Sources

Fernandez v. State, 730 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 1999). Available at: courtlistener.com (Accessed: 14 July 2026).: A Florida Supreme Court capital-murder opinion records a defendant turning to a Santeria priest to try to escape justice after a bank robbery and police killing: 'Prado testified that appellant listened to the television report and then told Prado that he had been involved in the crime and wanted to see a Santeria priest known as a babalao. Prado testified that he took appellant that same day to see Lazaro Hernandez, who was a babalao, and that appellant asked Hernandez to perform a ritual to prevent appellant from being apprehended. Hernandez subsequently informed police as to appellant's statements to him regarding the crime and shared a $100,000 reward with Prado.'

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.

Source and tier basis: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1918619/fernandez-v-state/ Legacy citation preserved without a normalized source tier or evidentiary-role code. SHA-256 e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

Named in this record? Request a correction, report a changed disposition, or submit a response.

Related record

Related cases · Cuban Santería

Browse all 12 Cuban Santería records

← Explore all cases