Cuban spy claims innocence in 1996 shootdown

MIAMI – In a new appeal, a convicted Cuban spy says he's innocent of any role in the 1996 shootdown of exile planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets on the communist island and helped rescue migrants in the ocean.

Gerardo Hernandez is serving life in prison for murder conspiracy in the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, which killed four men. Hernandez is one of the so-called Cuban Five convicted in 2001 of spying in the U.S.

Hernandez says in court documents filed Monday that he was unaware he could have insisted on a separate trial on the conspiracy charge. If he had, Hernandez says he would have testified extensively about his supposed innocence.

Prosecutors insist all five were properly convicted. Hernandez's attorneys will provide more details Tuesday on the appeal.