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confession and the admission of DNA evidence linking him to
the murder, Cordero was acquitted.^160 Cordero “ditched [the
eyeglasses] the moment he was free.”^161
In perhaps the most publicized use of the nerd defense thus
far, five young men went on trial in Washington, D.C. in 2010
for first degree murder committed during “one of the District’s
deadliest outbreaks of violence.”^162 Each of the defendants
arrived to court wearing large-framed and heavy-rimmed
glasses.^163 This sparked the attention of the prosecution,
prompting Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Brittin to ask his
key witness if he had ever seen any of the men wearing
eyeglasses prior to trial.^164 In the dozens of hearings before the
ONLINE (Mar. 30, 2012, 3:52 PM), http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
2122990/The-nerd-defense-How-violent-criminals-turning-framed-hipster-
glasses-persuade-juries-intelligent-honest.html (reporting that defense attorney
Harvey Slovis gives “all his defendants thick-rimmed, nonprescription glasses
before court appearances to make them look less threatening”).
(^160) Minara El-Rahman, Nude Housekeeper Not Guilty of Murder,
FINDLAW (Jan. 21, 2011, 6:15 AM), http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/
2011/01/nude-housekeeper-not-guilty-of-murder.html (reporting that in a
taped statement, Cordero confessed to police that John Conley attempted to
rape him, at which time he took a knife from Conley and stabbed him, but
that at trial Cordero stated that he wanted to recant his confession because
“he was coerced by Detective Steven Berger”).
(^161) Deutsch, supra note 150.
(^162) Keith L. Alexander, Deliberations Begin in Five-Man District Murder
Trial, WASH. POST (Apr. 25, 2012, 4:26 PM), http://www.washington
post.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/deliberations-in-five-man-district-murder-
trial/2012/04/25/gIQAT15RhT_blog.html; see also South Capitol Street
Murders: Sanquan Carter, Orlando Carter, Jeffrey Best, Robert Bost and
Lamar Williams to be Sentenced, ABC NEWS (Sept. 11, 2012 5:47 AM),
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/09/south-capitol-street-murders-sanquan-
carter-orlando-carter-jeffrey-best-robert-bost-and-lamar-willia.html.
(^163) Alexander, supra note 9.
(^164) The defendants’ identities were at issue in the case, allowing the
prosecution to question two witnesses. Key witness Nathaniel Simms, who
had previously pled guilty in the case, responded with an unequivocal “no” to
U.S. Attorney Michael Brittin’s question concerning Orlando Carter’s use of
eyewear prior to trial. The answer was the “same for each of Carter’s co-
defendants.” Id.; see also District of Columbia v. Carter, No. 2010 CF1
005677 (D.C. Super. Ct. 2012).