The documentary was released on Netflix on September 29, 2017, and it received numerous awards and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary for a Short Film. December 15, 2021. While representatives for the Los Angeles City Council confirm the amount of the settlement, it does not come with any admission of wrongdoing on the part of police officers or the city. And the fact that he did not fit the description eyewitnesses gave of the shooter did not persuade prosecutors. After a few minutes, she approached the car, where she found Vargas body riddled with bullets. But Juan Catalan said he was at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game -- not a drive-by shooting -- at the time of the murder . Beating the (False) Rap: Life After Netflix's 'Long Shot' Before his arrest for murder, Catalan said he never watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Thats poison in our bodies that, you know, it doesnt hurt the person you hate, it hurts yourself, and it eats away at your soul. Catalan told Ledesma about the weapon immediately. The quirky day-in-the-life series centers on the misadventures of comedian Larry David, the lauded creator of "Seinfeld. Look at anything you want. And we hooked him up with everything from the stadium, all the footage we shot that night.Im there for maybe five minutes, and the lawyer screams out, There he is!We couldnt believe it. But when a police supervisor learned the young girls name, he called Pinner. ", Melnick persuaded the producers to let him look at the episode "Carpool Lane" and its outtakes. The Amazing Story Of How - Thought Catalog ", "Juan remembered that Super Dave Osborne was one of the actors in the show," recalled defense attorney Todd Melnick during an appearance on "Good Morning America" in June 2004. Juan Catalan is the name of the protagonist of the documentary Long Shot, elaborate production by Netflix, which tells the story of how he escaped the death penalty for having attended a Los Angeles Dodgers game, on 12 May 2003. Innocent man facing the death penalty saved by Seinfeld creator Where and How to Become Billionaire With Just $20 in Your Wallet !! The Long Shot is available to view now on Netflix. "Bingo.Within days, Melnik met with David and the show's producers to go through outtake footage from the filming of the "Car Pool Lane" episode that would air the following spring. Theres like, in there, its just like, you know, thats supposed to rehabilitate a person? They soon were separated as partners. Went out the next day and saw where she died. I busted through the ceiling, Nicola Adams on fighting sexism & inspiring the next generation, Treat Mum to something special this Mother's Day gift ideas from 23, Prince Harry diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder by trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate in tell-all interview. phone records also showed that Juans cellphone pinged a tower near Dodger Stadium at 10:12 pm, which happens to be 31 minutes before Puebla was murdered. Even your cell phone location data can be used to prove if you were at a location or somewhere completely different. Despite his efforts to his to the police that he and his daughter were at the baseball game on the night Puebla was murdered, he was still arrested. Thanks to a series of tapes from the production of an HBO series, which on May 12, 2003, recorded a chapter in the house of the Los Angeles painting, the lawyer was able to verify that Juan was in the stands. She argued that there was plenty of time for Juan to leave the stadium and drive the 20 miles to commit the slaying. Youre not going to be telling gang members Ms. With the arrival of federal authorities, Pinner and Rodriguez were phased out as the lead investigators. The ruse, as Pinner would later call it in court, was a legal move. . To achieve this, the defender went to Sam Fernndez, of the Dodgers legal team, and with the HBO production company that had recorded an episode of a comedy program that was broadcast that day. . 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Prior to his current assignment, Rubin covered federal courts and agencies, the Los Angeles Police Department and the regions public schools. By pure coincidence, comedian Larry David was filming an episode of his hit show. The events leading to Martha Pueblas slaying began five months earlier outside her bedroom window. Juan (Imanol Arias), the impoverished son of a Chinese magician, discovers that his aristocratic Catalan wife (Ornella Muti) has been cheating on him. "Who knew that love would one day save his life? The prosecution argued that Catalan had enough time to drive home and commit the murder, so Melnik took a strategy from arguably the famous criminal case of all to defend his client. The days passed and while the presence of Cataln could not be verified in the game and not near the crime scene, the Hispanic man lived hours of terror in a maximum security prison. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, LLC. Search for the Truth: The Unsupported Prosecution of Juan Catalan If the video did not exist he'd still be in prison right now. Heard the gunshots. Stay on your toes, homie. Both Juan Rodrguez and Martn Pinner admitted that they tried to coerce a false confession out of Catalan. Our newsletter keeps our core readers connected. A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthless chef. Bio, Best Films, Dating, Parents. To drive home his point, Pinner laid down a six-pack -- an array of mug shots that detectives often show to witnesses or victims of crimes. According to ABC News, Catalan is now a "devoted fan" of the acclaimed comedy series. Pain Hustlers A woman struggling to raise her daughter becomes involved in a dangerous racketeering scheme after taking a job at a failing pharmaceutical start-up. In August 2003, 16-year-old Martha Puebla was reportedly shot dead outside her home in San Fernando Valley. Im gonna get you outta here. I gotta find the Holy Grail of Juans defense. which is not a strategy that a defense attorney representing a client will employ? Dont worry, you can unsubscribe any time you like. For Juan Catalan, the faults of the criminal justice apparatus briefly showed their terrifying destructive potential when he was arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla. Taking into account traffic congestion, the judge accepted thered be no way Juan could have been at the crime scene at the time of the murder. Four other men were eventually found guilty of the murder. Following the acquittal, the two officers have allegedly reassigned posts within the LAPD but they were not penalized for their conduct. "He [Melnick] did the job the police were suppose to have done and are paid to do," said Gary Casselman, the attorney representing Catalan in the police misconduct lawsuit. Even his daughter had to testify in court, assuring that after the game they stayed to buy baseball cards. She had not told detectives much at all. And eventually they found proof of Juan walking his young daughter to their seats inside the stadium. john smith laramie wife juan catalan wife. When you opt in, not only do you get our curated list of the best horror streaming and stories, you support our work and help us keep the lights on. The New York Post reported in 2017 that Catalan had earned an associate's degree in general education and hoped to pursue a bachelor's degree in business. He also went ahead to focus on his education by earning an associate degree in general education. Ledesma insisted he did not know her. But Juan Catalan was as relevant a representative of the ideals that allow us to freely congregate and celebrate as you could hope to find.To Catalan, baseball is no longer the pure diversion it once was. 16-year-old Martha Puebla was shot dead outside her home in San Fernando Valley, Calif. on May 12, 2003, after testifying in a case concerning Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma and co-defendant Mario Catalan. Pinner told Catalan that people had seen him shoot the girl. A federal prosecutor involved in the case said he recalled seeing notes from a meeting at which officials from the L.A. County district attorneys office offered protection to Puebla. With that, the man pulled a 9-millimeter handgun from his sweat shirt pocket and started shooting. Why are people treating me this way? She was even willing to produce the ticket stubs, and Juan was willing to take a lie-detector test, but prosecutors refused. Faqs and Side Effects on, 14 Black owned clothing brands impossible to ignore- Black Lives Matters, Savannah LaBrants Life Explained In 11 Facts, The Beauty of Karnataka- Must-Visit Places for Short Trips, Winter Vacations 2023 in United States, Top10 Destinations Listed Below in the, 11 Romantic Things To Do In the Maldivesfor Couples, How to Plan a Wholesome Trip to South India, Amad Diallo A Ivorian Football Sensation, Who is Brian Hollins? And as always, he's a baseball fan. Im a baby naming pro and these are the top so far for this year - would you add them to your list? Uh huh, like that, Ledesma told Covarrubias, using a mix of Spanish and English. Even though I was looking at a possible death sentence, it felt like I was already halfway there because I was away from my family, he told Bartlett. On May 12, 2003, then 24-year-old Juan watched his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers lose to the Atlanta Braves 11-4, with his six-year-old daughter, Melissa. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Juli Fisher: Why Did Jeff Fishers Ex-wife Leave Him After 22 Years of Marriage? The documentary Long Shot, available on Netflix, tells the story of Juan Ignacio Cataln, a man with a troublesome life during his youth, who, because he was with the wrong people, at a bad time, was about to be sentenced to death, had it not been for that game that the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11-4 to the Atlanta Braves and a cheap comedy shoot. With everything against him, and with the prosecutor, Beth Silverman, who wanted the death penalty to be applied, the defense lawyer, Todd Melnik managed to corroborate that Juan Cataln had sat in one of the 27,548 seats occupied that night in Dodger Stadium, where the home team fell 11-4 to the Atlanta Braves. They had met Puebla then. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Unlike his brother, Catalan was a law-abiding citizen and doting father. Long Shot is a 2017 short documentary film about how Juan Catalan was arrested for a murder he did not commit. And when he was eighteen, he caught a home-run ball as it sailed into the stands. How much did Juan Catalan pay his lawyer? - TimesMojo Martha had earlier testified in a another gang-related murder case and police were convinced that Juan was the killer. Juan Modolell, the calm daring in science - The Limited Times How Juan Catalan Got Arrested for Killing a 16-Year-Old Girl in 2003 In August 2003, 16-year-old Martha Puebla was reportedly shot dead outside her home in San Fernando Valley. They agreed. Since an eyewitness identified Juan as the shooter and Juan had a criminal record from his teens, police arrested him and charged him with murder. My God! He mocked and swore at Pinner, repeatedly denying any role in the killings. About | Thankfully, the night of the accused crime Catalans wife had called him just as he was leaving the stadium with their daughter at 10.13pm. This was after she testified in a case that involved Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma and co-defendant was Mario Catalan. After spending not less than six months in jail, Catalan insisted on his innocence. Peps, as Ledesma was called in the gang, wasnt there. Under his mattress, they found a loaded assault rifle and letters from other Vineland Boyz, many of them written from prison. The 24-year-old machinist was sent to jail to await trial for capital murder. His relationship to the game is forever altered by the alibi that bought him back his freedom and quite likely saved him from the death penalty. "I really did jump out of my chair," Melnik said. Other LAPD detectives searched the car Ledesma and Catalan had driven to Mexico. Going to watch it after Ghosts. The call was pinged by the cell tower right alongside Dodger Stadium. Following the acquittal, they were both reassigned posts within the LAPD but never formally penalised for their conduct. Long Shot is a 2017 short documentary film about how Juan Catalan was arrested for a murder he did not commit. '"That video evidence, combined with phone records that showed Catalan's cellphone pinged a tower near Dodger Stadium at 10:12 p.m. -- 31 minutes before the murder took place, roughly 20 miles away -- was enough to get Catalan acquitted. What Caused, Can Botox Help You in Looking Young? But Catalan, of course, didnt know that. 27 People Describe What Its Actually Like To Have Someone You Know Go Missing Or BeMurdered, 11 Scary Stranger Stories That Will Make You Check Your Locks AtNight, 10 People Reveal The Haunting Story Behind The Time They Accidentally Found A DeadBody, 50 World Travelers Tell Their Creepiest HotelStories, 50+ True Crime Stories That Will Shock You To YourCore. Read Also:Why And How Was Jazmine Trotter Murdered? Sometimes they go the extra step of making up documents to bolster their lies. At the same time, youve got to use some common sense, said Dennis Kilcoyne, president of the California Homicide Investigators Assn. Martin Pinner, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, was home that night. From that moment on, a series of errors by the accusing party, the desperation of the accused and his family due to an unfair accusation would be combined as a fundamental part of the investigation. Puebla, in fact, hadnt dropped a dime. Its a short doc (40 mins iirc). Catalan did have a motive for the execution-style killing of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, as she was a witness in his brother's trial for murder. The first, his wife and his daughters, with whom he always shared everything. "As a kid, I watched Fernando Valenzuela pitch," he said. But [keep a] low-pro[file]. Weve created a community powered by horror fans like you and we need you in it. Despite the eyewitness, and despite the alleged motive of taking out revenge against someone who had testified aginst his brother, Melnik believed Juan when he insisted he was innocent. As the girls talked, gunshots suddenly filled the night air. On 05/30/1978 for a murder he did not commit Catalan lives today sun Valley, CA, where! Catalan told Melnik he was at Dodger Stadium watching a baseball game with his seven-year-old daughter Melissa the night of the murder. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He was suspected by police because the victim was the star witness against his brother two weeks before the murder, and an eyewitness to the murder said the killer was a youngish adult Latino man with a mustache (which also describes Juan). Join Facebook to connect with Juan Catalan and others you may know. She was a reluctant and unhelpful witness, as she had been with Pinner and Rodriguez the morning of the shooting, telling the prosecutor that she had not seen the shooter. Curb Your Enthusiasm: 15 Little Tidbits From Behind The Scenes For Juan Catalan, the faults of the criminal justice apparatus briefly showed their terrifying destructive potential when he was arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla. In the end, the trace of a call proved the Mexican right. What Happened To Juan Catalan After His Exoneration? - WeAskFreak Cataln was arrested on May 13, 2003, a day after the game, accused of the murder of Martha Puebla, a 16-year-old girl who had testified in a trial against Juans older brother. Rodriguez read Ledesma his Miranda rights, and Pinner started grilling him. It was an extraordinary denial of justice, but the police were convinced Juan was . But for law-abiding father, Juan Catalan, it was his harsh reality. Scanning through the three hours of videotape from the game, Melnik was able to pinpoint where Catalan and his daughter were sitting, but the video resolution wasnt clear enough to definitively show in a court of law. According to reports, the homicide detectives in charge of the case, Martin Pinner and Jose Rodriguez, who were certain Juan was the killer, just wanted to set him up and end the case. I dont agree with you, and I have the evidence to prove it, Pinner said. So interesting and so good to know an innocent man avoided jail! Every Friday, we send out an email with the scariest horror movies and TV shows streaming that weekend along with creepy news, updates from the horror movie pipeline, and links to the best scary content on the web. A loyal follower of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he knew that his teams closer in that long-ago 2003 season, Canadian Eric Gagne, hardly missed the diamond, but on the night of May 12, the pitcher was a disaster and life of a man of Hispanic origin would change radically. But Long Shot, a short documentary about how Los Angeles man Juan Catalan avoided death row, is a rare exception. My friend. The FOX Sports TV feed and the Dodgers in-house video and security feeds did not include the section where Catalan and his daughter, Cousin Miguel, and a friend were seated. Great documentary on Netflix about this, they interview Larry David and everything. Homicide Detectives Pinner and Rodriquez eventually admitted they set Juan Catalan up to solve the case. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Its a moment in time that still haunts him today. Aside from that he allegedly had no criminal records. Mario Catalan, the suspect's brother, was a co-defendant in that case. Not in my mind. You're never going to find your client on a tape., And on the, probably the fifth tape I think it was, Juan walked right into the camera shot, and the rest is history, as they say.. A TV show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, contains raw footage that was instrumental in proving his innocence. The cagey comic wanted to use the carpool lane to avoid the clogged freeway full of fans headed to the Dodgers' game. Pinner told Ledesma he knew the gang member had been on his way to Martha Pueblas house to visit her the night Vargas was killed outside her house. Tonight on 60 Minutes reporter Liam Bartlett meets the victim of one of the great failures of the American justice system. 15 Types, Know All About Dramatic Character of Mia Benitez played by Sohvi Rodriguez, Know All About Ex Wife of Dave Portnoy -Renee Portnoy? Shes dead!. "The experience I've had, the people I've met, the places I've gone, it's actually all come from this, which is something crazy to think about. Why And How Was Jazmine Trotter Murdered? Juan Catalan Profiles | Facebook Following the advice of Judge Dunn, the Judge that set him free, he earned an associate degree in general education and later applied to California State University, Northridge to earn a bachelors in business administration degree. But after his release from jail, he became a devoted fan. That's poison in our bodies that, you know, it doesn't hurt the person you hate, it hurts yourself, and it eats away at your soul," he said during an interview on "60 Minutes Australia" (posted on YouTube). Michael Kremko: Bio, Best Works, Where Is He Now? Catalan was arrested for Puebla's death in August 2003, and he maintained his innocence, telling prosecutors that he had taken his 6-year-old daughter to the Dodgers game on the night of the murder. And then there was another shot where he was standing up. Interrogation rooms, experts say, are freewheeling places. The timecode on the Curb Your Enthusiasm vision read 9.09pm, and the murder happened at 10.40pm - an hour and a half later. The documentary was released on Netflix on September 29, 2017. In the days after the murder in May 2003, he was arrested by cops who pointed a gun to his head after pulling him over in his SUV. I need to place my client at Dodger Stadium on that night. ", "I went through about 20 minutes of tape, and I was beginning to get disheartened because I didn't see Juan in any of the tapes," remembered Melnick. Thank you for posting. Despite the video evidence, the authorities claimed the time on the video was different from the time of the murder. He was later awarded a $320,000 settlement for police misconduct, false imprisonment, and defamation in 2007. Some people abhor the idea of being "tracked" - I have learned it has a value. And a detailed log the detectives kept of their investigation shows no indication that they had contact with Puebla or her parents after they used the girl to bait Ledesma during the interrogation. They prosecutor they had assigned to the case had never lost. He was an outcast, perhaps, in his Dodgers hat, considering it was the Yankees and Indians on the field below. In August 2003, the young father was targeted by ten undercover police officers and violently placed under arrest. I'm very happy Juan Catalan had a dedicated lawyer. She is dropping dimes.. As the detectives proceeded with their murder case against Ledesma, the gangsters friends schemed to do away with Puebla. Juan Catalan sat in jail for five months awaiting trial until his lawyer turned up video footage showing Catalan was at a Dodgers game at the time of the shooting. The next morning, after hearing that the police had been at his house, Ledesma crossed the border with Catalan and checked into a motel in Tijuana. Right underneath my basketball hoop on the side of the street. They recovered a handgun that would eventually be matched to Vargas death and another killing that had happened the same week. And, of course, there was the body. A year later, gang member Raul Robledo received a life term for Martha's murder. But being arrested for murder months after the slayingand being threatened with either dying in jail or via capital punishmentwas a living nightmare for a man who insisted he was at Dodger Stadium watching his favorite sports team when the murder happened. In several shots, Juan Catalan is seen in the stands eating a hot dog or watching the game with his 6-year-old daughter. But Pueblas parents, who have recently filed a civil lawsuit against the detectives and the LAPD, said in an interview that no one from the LAPD ever warned their daughter that she might be in danger. It would be years before the pieces of the case would fully come together, but in those early hours there should have been an obvious question: In trying to solve one murder, had the detectives set into motion another? In 2003 Juan Catalan was arrested for murdering a teenage girl, even though he swore he couldn't have been at the purported crime scene because he was with his daughter at a Los Angeles Dodgers . Detectives lie frequently, typically telling a suspect that they have DNA evidence or video footage or witnesses. Curb Your Enthusiasm (TV Series 2000- ) - Trivia - IMDb According to Melnik: I told him. It was such a bad experience, and to have all this good come out, I just feel blessed. Juan Catalan: How Did An LA Dodgers Game Change His Life Drastically? Interrogation, then revenge - Los Angeles Times juan catalan wife - prostarsolares.com According to Innocence Project, approximately 20,000 people roughly 1% of the prison population arefalsely convicted of crimes. She is currently assigned to the Major Crimes Division where she vertically prosecutes high-profile, complex homicides. Privacy | Brown down the street saw you doing this, because you put their lives in jeopardy.. Chance Michael Corbitt: Where In Gods Name Is The Actor. You got the wrong person, buddy, Ledesma said. Finally, after months, Juan recalled that a TV show had been filming at the stadium the night of the game. Reports say he still works at his fathers machine shop to support his family. Still, authorities continued to blame him as the crime was committed minutes after the LA game ended. When you hear a grown man, you know, cry for help, and youre like, helpless, its a feeling like, man, just of completeno hope. With that information, his lawyer was able to ask the actor and shows producers permission to go through the outtake footage from the filming of the Car Pool Lane episode of the show. The documentary shows how from the moment, he was arrested, Juan protested his innocence as on the night of the murder, he took his daughter to Dodgers' Stadium to watch a baseball game between the LA Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Two days later, Pinner and Rodriguez caught a break. Mystic Meg zodiac signs latest: Riches in store for Capricorn & major changes await Gemini; plus weekly horoscopes, I went into politics after my MP sister Jo Cox was murdered 6 years on, I haven't come to terms with what happened, Being sexy is no longer about natural looks - glamour girls & TV stars look like filters, its scary, says Sam Fox. Why is Hasan Piker known as Hypocritical Leftist? Netflix is also making a documentary about the disapperance of Madeleine McCann, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Yet even after producing ticket stubs of the baseball game he attended, law enforcement had chosen their man in Catalan, and he was incarcerated to await his trial for capital murder. Property News:Music promoter Michael Coppel sells Toorak home for more than $30 million - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. This documentary came out in 2017, 14 years after what happened. (60 Minutes) In the first of many coincidences surrounding Catalan's case, Puebla had been a star witness in a court case where his brother, Mario Catalan, was a defendant. After his release, he described to a reporter the mental torture of being innocently jailed for murder: I felt like I didnt sleep for six months, because there was just so many, so much going on.l mean, Id never seen so many people just, you know, beaten, you know? On 06/28/2021 CATALAN, JUAN filed a Personal Injury - Motor Vehicle lawsuit against ALLSTATE INDEMNITY COMPANY. "It is in their manual that they are supposed to check out an alibi or a defense.". The shooting was retaliation for Puebla's testimony in a gang murder case in which Catalan's brother was a co-defendant. But despite providing his ticket stubs, police weren't convinced of his innoncence and proceeded with proseucting him, which if he had been convicted, could have seen him face the death penalty. Signing up helps us (not Zuckerberg) stay in direct contact with you and create the best horror website possible. He told Catalan that the gun had been found and, then, hoping that the two suspects would say something to incriminate themselves, put them in a holding cell together at the Van Nuys jail. Those is the guy that shot my friends boyfriend was scrawled along the margin, followed by Pueblas signature. . June 14, 2022 . However, Todd Melnik, his lawyer organized a Gofundme for Catalan claiming the latter never received any compensation for the movie. He also became a big fan of baseball and also Curb your Enthusiasm. In 2003, a man named Juan Catalan was arrested for murder in Los Angeles. The FOX Sports TV feed and the Dodgers' in-house video and security feeds did not include shots of his section with a high enough resolution to reveal him.But the key to the case was when Catalan remembered someone in his section making mention that "Super Dave Osborne" -- otherwise known as actor and comedian Bob Einstein, who plays Marty Funkhouser on "Curb" -- was in attendance. Silverman has been a Deputy District Attorney since 1994 in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Thanks, I know what I'm going to watch tonight, Yup. It was a game that would end up saving his life. We only haunt the willing. Catalan was arrested for Puebla's death in August 2003, and he maintained his innocence, telling prosecutors that he had taken his 6-year-old daughter to the Dodgers game on the night of the murder.Though Catalan could produce ticket stubs and offered to take a lie-detector test, real proof that he was in attendance was unavailable.
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