The cagey comic wanted to use the carpool lane to avoid the clogged freeway full of fans headed to the Dodgers' game. Catalan and Melnik are "best friends" now. You may unsubscribe at any time. 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. 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. Questioned by Mexican authorities, the woman told them that Ledesma and Catalan were wanted in Los Angeles for murder. He didnt remember the name of the showand later confessed that at the time, hed never heard of Curb Your Enthusiasmbut he did remember hearing that Super Dave Osborne, whose real name is Bob Einstein and played the character Marty Funkhouser on Curb, was somehow involved in the filming. After a few minutes, she approached the car, where she found Vargas body riddled with bullets. @2021 - YourDailyHunt.com | All Rights Reserved. On the night of May 12, 2003, 16-year-old Martha Puebla was shot to death outside her home in Sun Valley, CA. He was subsequently freed. The Judge overseeing this case is ELAINE H PALMER. 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. She said she had not seen much of anything at all. 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. Four other men were eventually found guilty of the murder. That just destroys a person in there.My thought was, Am I gonna die in here? We are brought up to think that, you know, the policemen are there to protect us, so just knowing that theyre doing something that they shouldnt, that changes everything. December 15, 2021. In regards to that, the police arrested Juan Catalan, who happens to be Mario Catalan was arrested outside his home in the presence of his daughter, Melissa who was around four to six years. No. Both Juan Rodrguez and Martn Pinner admitted that they tried to coerce a false confession out of Catalan. Catalan was being charged with the murder of 16-year-old police informant, Martha Puebla. In August 2003, they arrested Juan Catalan, Mario's brother, for Puebla's murder. 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. Thanks to an assist from the sport and another unusual source -- the HBO comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- Catalan was free Monday night to take his seat in Section 327, to watch Game 4 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan and to reflect on his life's wild plot twists that make even postseason baseball seem simplistic, by comparison. Right underneath my basketball hoop on the side of the street. Federal and state courts throughout the country have repeatedly upheld the right of police officers to lie to people they have in custody. 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. . Even your cell phone location data can be used to prove if you were at a location or somewhere completely different. Facebook gives people the power to. Its just mindboggling of all the what-ifs in this case to make this alibi, at least a good portion of this alibi to come to life, Melnik told Bartlett. ", "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. This documentary came out in 2017, 14 years after what happened. But before he was proven innocent, he had to face the possibility that his life would be reduced to another tragic statistic as he lived his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit. He also became a big fan of baseball and also Curb your Enthusiasm. Whatever Happened To Juan Catalan After His Exoneration. But after his release from jail, he became a devoted fan. A judge threw out the case, and Catalan was awarded $320,000 in a wrongful-arrest suit. Pinner is still a police officer to this day. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, A new Netflix documentary is to tell the story of Juan Catalan, a man falsely accused of killing a 16-year-old girl, On the night of the murder, Juan had gone to watch baseball at Dodgers' Stadium in Los Angeles, His legal team were able to prove he wasn't at the scene of the murder thanks to footage shot for the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, Juan and his defence lawyer Todd Melnik in 2004, holding the proof that Juan wasn't involved in the murder, Juan's story has now been made into a Netflix documentary. juan catalan wife. Juan Catalan was released from custody after a trial that lasted for six months. One step below, nature photography, especially butterflies, which he enjoyed. I looked at tape after tape. She was even willing to produce the ticket stubs, and Juan was willing to take a lie-detector test, but prosecutors refused. LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2007 — -- A man cleared of murder charges by outtakes from an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will receive $320,000 in the settlement of a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and its police force. Dios mo! The prosecutor acknowledged that he did not attend the meeting, which occurred about five months after detectives had given Pueblas name to Ledesma. Catalan told Melnik he was at Dodger Stadium watching a baseball game with his seven-year-old daughter Melissa the night of the murder. ago She told a friend that she knew the Vineland Boyz were blaming her for helping police with the Vargas murder investigation. But that wasn't enough. He'd felt . It didn't matter. View the profiles of people named Juan Cataln. In August 2003, Juan Catalan, a 24-year-old father who worked in his family's machining business, was arrested for the murder of a 16-year-old girl. As the girls talked, gunshots suddenly filled the night air. Sam Kiszkas Age and Height Is He Still Dating Joy Powell. The next night, Ledesma reached for a pay phone outside his cell. Melnik agreed, and it would be the start of an emotional lifelong friendship between the two. "I mean, if that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. '"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. One of them got out of the car, walked up to the girl and killed her. Read Also:Why And How Was Jazmine Trotter Murdered? Cheryl Hines has been fantastic in her role as Larry David's wife and ex-wife throughout the 10 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. 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? If the video did not exist he'd still be in prison right now. Sometimes they go the extra step of making up documents to bolster their lies. This was after she testified in a case that involved Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma and co-defendant was Mario Catalan. On 05/30/1978 for a murder he did not commit Catalan lives today sun Valley, CA, where! The day the detectives arrested Juan Catalan, they thought they had the right man. Juan Catalan with wife Alma. Thank you for posting. . As Pinner and Rodriguez worked Pueblas murder scene, the truth was on the tape of Ledesmas jail-cell call. Until the same tracking pins you near a crime scene making you a suspect. Going to watch it after Ghosts. Melnik, who had pored over countless hours of stadium surveillance footage but couldnt find anything that was clear enough to identify Juan, contacted HBO and asked if he could review their outtakes for the show. To improve your experience. It also makes me value using a credit card for most purchases which are all time stamped and traced. Dont worry, you can unsubscribe any time you like. We hear you like all things creepy we do too. When a police officer believes someone may be in danger because of their involvement in a case, Kilcoyne and others said, it is standard procedure to warn the person and offer them protection. He was spared a death sentence because he and his lawyer, Todd Melnik, were able to prove that at the time the crime was committed Catalan was not at the murder scene but at Chavez-Ravine -- for a May 12, 2003, game between the Dodgers and Braves. "One of the crew members, he let me go in front of the camera," Catalan said. Was Seargeoh Stallone Suffering From Autism? After a couple months with Juan in jail, his girlfriend reminded him he had been at the Dodger game that night with his daughter. What Juan Catalan endured at the hands of the Los Angeles police is no laughing matter, but it's comedy that saved him. According to Melnik: I told him. But being a relative of one of LAs notorious Vineland Gang members was enough to make him a suspect. The fatal shot -- fired from so close that it left soot and burn marks on Pueblas cheek -- struck just below her left eye. Catalans lawyer also tried to prove that he was actually at the game by looking through television footage of the game which again was not a piece of strong evidence especially because Catalan was not seen in the video. This case was filed in Harris County District Courts, Harris County District Courts located in Harris, Texas. Disclaimer | The evidence was enough for the case against Juan to be dismissed and after five and a half months in jail he was released and later recieved 250,000 in compensation from the LAPD. Unfortunately many people dont have the same luxury and pay with cash. Juan is pictured visiting Dodger's Stadium, The horrifying true story of a man falsely accused of a brutal gangland murder in documentary Long Shot is about to become your new Netflix obsession, Harry launches fresh attack on Charles saying he grew up in 'broken home' & insists 'mum felt like I do' about Royals, Break down the barriers? Why is my life going to end here?. Waco: American Apocalypse He repeatedly professed his innocence, and asked to take a polygraph test, a request that the police denied (note: polygraph tests aren't admissible in court). Pinner told Catalan that people had seen him shoot the girl. When Pinner and Rodriguez stepped into the interrogation room with Ledesma, they had little real information to work with. 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. 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. What Caused, Can Botox Help You in Looking Young? 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. 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. Catalan was arrested and sent to prison where he spent six months awaiting trial. Also worth pointing out the lengths Juan's attorney went to to find this footage is pretty amazing. Far from helping the police, the reality was that Puebla had actually tried to protect Ledesma in the hours after the shooting. After early interviews, suspicion fell quickly on Jose Ledesma, a member of the Vineland Boyz -- a notorious, violent gang that controlled much of the drug sales on the streets of Sun Valley. As he await his trial for capital murder, Melnik was able to provide proof that his client was at a game using video footage of Larry Davids HBO comedy show, Curb Your Enthusiasm which captured Catalan at the Dodgers game. 1 The Show Will Never Have A Big Finale Ending Like Seinfeld Did 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). 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. Other LAPD detectives searched the car Ledesma and Catalan had driven to Mexico. The teenage girl, whom The Times is not identifying for her safety at the request of a prosecutor, had come with another friend, Christian Vargas. Its a moment in time that still haunts him today. In 2007, he was awarded $320,000 as a settlement in a civil lawsuit against the LAPD.Feb 24, 2021, In 2007, Catalan received a $320,000 settlement from a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and its police force, and was the subject of a short Netflix documentary, "Long Shot," that examines his ordeal. Catalan and his girlfriend had gotten into a fight. Puebla, in fact, hadnt dropped a dime. 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. A fourth Vineland Boyz member who participated is thought to have fled to Mexico and is being sought, a federal prosecutor said. . Unlike his brother, Juan was a doting father and a law-abiding citizen. Why And How Was Jazmine Trotter Murdered? Interrogation rooms, experts say, are freewheeling places. She had not told detectives much at all. Michael Kremko: Bio, Best Works, Where Is He Now? Needing more proof, Catalan remembered that a televison show was being filmed at the game against the Atlanta Braves the night of the murder. 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. What your credit score starts at can be a deceptive question when asked directly. The show then follows how Todd's legal team then were allowed to scour hours of footage taken that night to try and find pictures to prove that Juan was part of the 56,000 crowd. About | Their four-year old daughter was in the back seat. That is why I keep my Google Location History active - not fool proof, but I am on the phone nearly all the time and can "triangulate" my calls and the location of my phone to establish almost always where I was at any given moment. 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. According to Innocence Project, approximately 20,000 people roughly 1% of the prison population arefalsely convicted of crimes. Creepy Catalog is owned by the Thought and Expression Company, a small, independent media company. Of the 58,000 seats filled with fans, filming took place right near where Catalan was sitting. 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. The 24-year-old machinist was sent to jail to await trial for capital murder. And his defense attorney Todd Melnick discovered that cameras had been at the baseball ground to film an episode of the comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm called 'The Carpool Lane'. Lets find out more about him. O_O, "Caybman, you were the only phone pinged when the event occurred. which is not a strategy that a defense attorney representing a client will employ? Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The detectives, who were assigned the case, worked through the night and into the next morning tracking down leads. Privacy | The 40-minute film tells the surprising story of how a baseball game and a Curb . He spent nearly six months in jail protesting his innocence while staring down the death penalty. Based on bad information from sources, the detectives pinned the slaying on Juan Catalan -- Mario Catalans brother. Joel Rubin is an assistant editor in Metro, overseeing the criminal justice team. [Letting them review the tapes] sounded very cool because my life is so lacking in anything interesting.It did seem like kind of a lame story, but I told the lawyer, Go ahead, go crazy. Three months later, Juan was charged with the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla. In his defense, Juan provided the ticket stubs to prove his innocence but it was to no avail. Why are people treating me this way? Plastic letters marking pieces of evidence dotted the street. "Back in 2003, Catalan was arrested for a murder he did not commit. Pinner and his partner, Juan Rodriguez, had been to that same dreary corner of Lull Street and Case Avenue months before to investigate the murder of another teen. And the fact that he did not fit the description eyewitnesses gave of the shooter did not persuade prosecutors. ProStarSolar > Blog Classic > Uncategorized > juan catalan wife. Silverman has been a Deputy District Attorney since 1994 in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. With his freedom back, Catalan has also not forgotten the show that helped him secure it.May 1, 2021. 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. In regards to the murder, four men were later arrested and found guilty. 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. "The film covers the drive-by shooting of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, a witness in a gang-related murder case in which Catalan's brother was a co-defendant. Only days before her murder, she had testified against young Mario Catalan involving a gang slaying in which Mario was charged as an accessory. 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.