Ana Wolfermann: What Are The Interesting Facts About The Actress? He sued the city of Los Angeles and was compensated with $320,000 due to the mismanagement of the detectives in charge of the case. Rodriguez was transferred to an auto theft detail and is currently assigned to a vice unit. Since the day I was arrested, I just felt like I was being framed. All About Second Oldest Paper in Texas- Victoria Story of 200 Old Journalism-Newark Advocate, A Complete Biography of German Goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Catalan is 42 years old and was born in 1990s, in Year Juan's case didn't come without further hurdles, but he was able to walk free in the end. 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. Todd Melnik was Catalans lawyer and after questioning him, he realized that the pass to his freedom or to the gallows would be to verify that his client had been one of the 27, 458 fans who were present at the Dodgers Stadium on the day of the murder. But for law-abiding father, Juan Catalan, it was his harsh reality. Pinner gave up trying to get Ledesma to confess and tried a different tack. So interesting and so good to know an innocent man avoided jail! 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. Even his daughter had to testify in court, assuring that after the game they stayed to buy baseball cards. Two days later, Pinner and Rodriguez caught a break. In regards to the murder, four men were later arrested and found guilty. Mexican police, responding to a domestic abuse call from a passerby, found Ledesma, Catalan and Catalans girlfriend drunk after a day at a seaside resort town. 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. Juan Catalan was riding to work at his father's shop, like any other day. The ruse, as Pinner would later call it in court, was a legal move. Im Martha, she responded. No. Needing more proof, Catalan remembered that a televison show was being filmed at the game against the Atlanta Braves the night of the murder. Mario Catalan, the suspect's brother, was a co-defendant in that case. 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. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life . He also remembered that he had been "caught on tape. Whatever Happened To Juan Catalan After His Exoneration. "You know, hate is, no one should walk around with hate in them. ProStarSolar > Blog Classic > Uncategorized > juan catalan wife. Creepy Catalog is owned by the Thought and Expression Company, a small, independent media company. I look at it like I did win the lottery because I got a new opportunity at life with my family. Yet despite the settlement, a Gofundme page organized by Melnik last March in support of Catalan says that Juan "still struggles today" financially, working in his father's machine shop to support his three children. "I mean, if that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. I'm very happy Juan Catalan had a dedicated lawyer. 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. View the profiles of people named Juan Catalan. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Federal and state courts throughout the country have repeatedly upheld the right of police officers to lie to people they have in custody. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Catalan still works in the family business, but Casselman suggested he remains traumatized by the five months he spent in jail wrongly accused. When you hear a grown man, you know, cry for help, and youre like, helpless, its a feeling like, man, just of completeno hope. Before his arrest for murder, Catalan said he never watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Pinner kept trying, pressing Ledesma about Puebla and the information he said she had given up. Join Facebook to connect with Juan Cataln and others you may know. "As a kid, I watched Fernando Valenzuela pitch," he said. We hear you like all things creepy we do too. 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. This case was filed in Harris County District Courts, Harris County District Courts located in Harris, Texas. They prosecutor they had assigned to the case had never lost. And when he was eighteen, he caught a home-run ball as it sailed into the stands. A few years after the settlement, Neflix produced a short documentary about Juans case titled Long Shot It notes that if Juan had merely gone home that night and hadnt attended the game and been filmed by HBO, he might be on Death Row right now. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In 2004, Catalan told ABC's Brian Rooney how amazed he was at the events that led to his vindication. Even though the interrogation was going nowhere, the case against Ledesma was growing stronger. Pinner, Rodriguez and the district attorneys office declined to comment for this article. 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. Juan Catalan was 24 when he was wrongly charged with gunning down 16-year-old Martha Puebla on her doorstep outside her home in Los Angeles. According to Melnik: I told him. As the detectives proceeded with their murder case against Ledesma, the gangsters friends schemed to do away with Puebla. In the end, Juan Cataln was released, received 320 thousand dollars in compensation and those who accused him of cheating were dismissed. 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. They agreed. 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. Juan Catalan had always denied murdering 16-year-old Martha Puebla but had to prove he had spent the night she died at a baseball game. We would like for you to come downtown.". As Pinner and Rodriguez worked Pueblas murder scene, the truth was on the tape of Ledesmas jail-cell call. At one point he asked Rodriguez for a photo of the girl to show Ledesma. Eleven days before she was killed, Puebla testified at a preliminary hearing in Ledesmas murder trial. They had met Puebla then. Est muerta! the neighbors heard her cry from down the block. Why is Win Harrison Wilson (Son of Russell Wilson) in Spotlight? . He was initially arrested in 2003 for the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla. My God! 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. Only days before her murder, she had testified against young Mario Catalan involving a gang slaying in which Mario was charged as an accessory. Following the acquittal, they were both reassigned posts within the LAPD but never formally penalised for their conduct. Waco: American Apocalypse Police swarmed the area, roping it off with yellow tape. Unlike his brother, Catalan was a law-abiding citizen and doting father. He was released from maximum security custody after nearly 6 months while facing the death penalty until his lawyer @ToddMelnik was able to prove his innocence in court with the most unlikely and incredible alibi ever. Im gonna get you outta here. I gotta find the Holy Grail of Juans defense. Juan had no idea why he had been arrested. However, since the tapes were time-stamped and located Juan at the stadium around 9PM and the murder didnt occur until around 10:30, the prosecutor wouldnt budge. But the new show called Long Shot, tells the tale of how he was able to prove his innocence in court against a feared prosecutor thanks to comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Read Also:Why And How Was Jazmine Trotter Murdered? 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. Juan Catalans story inspired the 2017 short documentary film, Long Shot. To improve your experience. Juan filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for police misconduct and was awarded $320,000 for false imprisonment. Both Juan Rodrguez and Martn Pinner admitted that they tried to coerce a false confession out of Catalan. Juan Catalan with wife Alma. Join Facebook to connect with Juan Catalan and others you may know. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. His offer to take a lie-detector test was refused. "Though embarrassed to admit he had no idea who David was before this ordeal, Catalan is certainly a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fan now. Who is Heather Hopper? And the fact that he did not fit the description eyewitnesses gave of the shooter did not persuade prosecutors. Catalan was ultimately exonerated by outtakes from "Curb Your Enthusiasm," an HBO comedy show that captured him at the Dodgers game, which was featured in Season 4's episode "The Car Pool Lane.". Juan Catalan was involved in Grand Theft Auto, pushed by his older brother, for which he was arrested and marked with a criminal record that would later aggravate his situation, but that he was able to get rid of thanks to a tape that placed him in Dodger Stadium, in a jersey of then-pitcher Kevin Brown. When he was very young, his uncle took him to Dodger Stadium to see the legendary Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitch a game. Netflix is also making a documentary about the disapperance of Madeleine McCann, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). "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. Catalan was arrested and sent to prison where he spent six months awaiting trial. 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. A new Netflix documentary is to tell the story of Juan Catalan, a man falsely accused of killing a 16-year-old girl Credit: Netflix. We only haunt the willing. He told the New York Post: "That show is hilarious. Thank you for posting. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. This is true. He pushed three six-packs in front of him. 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. Detectives are not allowed to strike deals with suspects in exchange for a confession, and they are not allowed to threaten them with bodily harm. The authorities chalked it up as gang crime. Of the 58,000 seats filled with fans, filming took place right near where Catalan was sitting. Pinner remains a homicide detective in North Hollywood. California AG's wife . "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. This was after she testified in a case that involved Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma and co-defendant was Mario Catalan. Prior to his current assignment, Rubin covered federal courts and agencies, the Los Angeles Police Department and the regions public schools. Juan appeared sitting in the living room, accompanied by his wife, Brenda Rivera, whom he married in 2017 after 22 years of dating. Catalan begged the detectives to believe him, that he had nothing to do with Pueblas death. which is not a strategy that a defense attorney representing a client will employ? Twenty miles away, Marios brother Juan was at Dodger Stadium with his six-year old daughter, watching his beloved Dodgers play the Atlanta Braves. 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). In the end, the trace of a call proved the Mexican right. 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. It was an extraordinary denial of justice, but the police were convinced Juan was . And he produced the ticket stubs to prove it. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The documentary was released on Netflix on September 29, 2017. He spent nearly six months in jail protesting his innocence while staring down the death penalty. Chance Michael Corbitt: Where In Gods Name Is The Actor. A judge threw out the case, and Catalan was awarded $320,000 in a wrongful-arrest suit. Catalan was eventually cleared by an unusual method, ABC News reported. We also told you how Netflix is also making a documentary about the disapperance of Madeleine McCann. Ledesma, who didnt call a lawyer, showed no signs of cracking. Michael Kremko: Bio, Best Works, Where Is He Now? It all started when LAPD detectives accused Juan of a cold-blooded murder he didn't commit, that resulted with Juan being put on death row. Youre not going to be telling gang members Ms. John Pyper Ferguson: 10 Unknown Facts About The Actor. You see, Rodriguez told Catalan, the pictures dont lie.. . Came here to say this. Homicide detectives on the case, Martin Pinner and Jose Rodriguez, were certain Juan Catalan was their killer, and in shocking police interview tapes it becomes clear they werent listening to a thing he had to say. He was later awarded a $320,000 settlement for police misconduct, false imprisonment, and defamation in 2007.