Original subtitles

Hi.

Hello, good afternoon.

Cristina Celaya Vega, licensed attorney 3128.

You will be paying my fees.

Your sister Arancha called me to represent you.

7 YEARS EARLIER

Do you have any problems with that?

POLICE

So, my recommendation is that you don't make any statements

until the hearing with the judge, who will probably release you

until the trial. Any questions?

Is that true? I won't go to jail?

No. You don't have priors.

But during the trial, which will be held at least a year from now,

the prosecution will try to prove you're guilty of the events.

Are you?

Guilty?

No.

YOU WOULD DO IT TOO

Mr. Bazán, cases like yours are judged by a jury of your peers.

Seven citizens with no legal training will decide

if you're guilty of your sister's death or not.

The testimonies and the evidence presented will carry an important weight, of course.

But the thing that will tip the scales towards declaring you

innocent or guilty won't be what the jury knows about you.

It will be what they think about you.

What they feel about you.

The law states that, during the trial,

the defendant can put forth anything they deem

necessary to exercise their right to defend themselves, be it true or not.

Are you suggesting I lie at trial?

In this country,

lying is part of your sacred right to defend yourself. Yes.

And that gives us the chance to defend the story that suits us best.

This court calls the defendant, Mr. Dante Bazán, to the stand.

Mr. Bazán, you have been accused of killing your sister.

If you don't sit right with the jury, you have zero chances. Zero.

So now, please imagine you're in front of a jury…

and tell me your story.

LUCÍA CALLING

Good morning, sweetheart!

Virginia, how are you doing?

- Oh, just getting by, like everyone else. - I know.

Give my regards to your sister. I hope she feels better.

- Better? - Her ankle. These stairs.

They're older and more worn down than I am. They're treacherous.

Yeah, okay.

Goodbye, darling.

Come on!

Let's go, man. Let's split. Come on, hurry.

You saw your sister's door had been forced open.

Uh, the first thing I thought about

were the two men I saw going down the stairs.

Lucía?

Lucía?

So I went in. It was a mess, uh, her valuables.

And then I saw her.

Lucía!

Lucía, Lucía.

We call Mrs. Virginia Puello to the stand.

Good morning, Mrs. Puello. How are you?

You're the doorkeeper in Lucía's building, right?

The defendant's sister.

- Yes, that's right. - Good.

The day Lucía died,

how many people did you see coming down the stairs?

I didn't see or hear anybody.

You didn't see anybody because nobody came down.

The police report is very clear.

The door wasn't forced open.

The victim and the murderer knew each other.

Mrs. Puello, you smoke, right?

In fact, I think you smoke during your working hours,

which is forbidden.

Well, sometimes.

And could one of those times have been right

when those men came down the stairs?

Maybe, I don't know.

That was a year ago.

That's when I thought, "Cristina,

now you have the jury eating out of the palm of your hand."

Eighty percent of jury trials result in a guilty verdict.

Who was the plaintiff?

Alistar.

The insurance company.

An insurance company?

They wanted to blame Dante for his sister's death

to avoid paying out her life insurance policy.

To get out of paying, the insurance company,

well, they twisted all the evidence against Dante.

The siblings were the first ones to testify in Dante's defense…

…but the prosecution knew exactly how to confuse them.

Mr. Bazán, good morning. Do you recognize this document?

The mortgage on Lucía's loft?

And the other document?

The co-signer agreement I signed for her to get the mortgage.

Without that agreement they wouldn't have given her the mortgage, right?

- No. - Why?

Because my sister didn't meet the conditions for a mortgage.

What was your relationship with the defendant?

I'm a bank manager, and Lucía Bazán was one of my clients.

She wanted to take out a mortgage, but she wasn't--

- she didn't meet the requirements. - Why not?

Because of her sclerosis, we could only offer her the mortgage

if a co-signer put up real estate as collateral.

ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is

a degenerative disease of the nervous system.

It's very aggressive, debilitating,

and presents a 50% mortality rate 18 months after diagnosis.

Is it hereditary?

If you have any family history, you should get tested.

Mom died of ALS. That's why all of us siblings got tested.

- What kind of tests? - It's a genetic test.

It tells you if you have the gene for ALS.

Did you take the tests to see if you were going to suffer from the same condition

- as your mother? - Yes.

Did you receive a positive result?

No.

Did anyone receive a positive result?

Just Lucía.

This doesn't mean there is a hundred percent

chance you'll develop the disease, understood?

We'll do a thorough follow-up.

Possible symptoms include pins and needles, abdominal pain…

Mr. Bazán, what assets did you use as collateral?

My house.

In her mind, that loft was… It was her whole life.

Mrs. Puello, could you please tell us what Lucía explained to you on the day

you ran into her by the entrance, and what you found so unusual?

She said she had fallen down the stairs.

Did you see her fall?

No.

- She never took the stairs. - Yes, thanks.

In fact, that fall wasn't just an accident.

It was the inevitable.

Lucía came to my practice around eight months before she died.

Why did she visit you?

She already had symptoms: poor motor control, muscle spasms.

Typical symptoms of early sclerosis.

How did Lucía take the news?

It was really hard on her, as you can imagine.

In the end, ALS is ruthless with the patient.

Mrs. Catalina, which one of your siblings had the hardest time

witnessing how the disease affected your mother?

Lucía.

She was depressed for a while.

Do you have any reason

to suspect your sister was thinking of ending her life

so she wouldn't have to suffer the consequences

of the disease that killed her mother?

- I don't know. - Mrs. Catalina, you're in a court of law.

You must tell the truth.

No.

Mr. Bazán, hypothetically speaking,

if your sister Lucía had taken her own life,

you would have had to take on her debt.

- Is that correct? - I guess so.

Would you have been able to pay it off?

No.

In the event of her suicide,

Lucía knew the bank would take your house away

and leave you homeless.

But she also knew that if her death wasn't intentional,

the insurance company would pay her mortgage.

And Lucía knew she had an alternative.

Staging her murder.

But she needed help.

I don't believe it. It doesn't make sense.

Killing your sister in cold blood?

I mean, I get it, okay?

If you're sick and your life's miserable,

you might say, "To hell with everything." Right?

But going from that to asking your favorite brother to kill you…

How did the jury end up buying the staged-murder hypothesis?

Why are you so interested in this case?

I already told you.

I'm writing a piece on the concept of a jury of peers.

According to witnesses, three passengers…

I've also done my homework.

Leyre Palacios.

Do you believe Dante is the vigilante everyone is talking about?

I have a suspicion.

The police still haven't revealed his identity.

So, please, be discreet about this.

Giving a face and a name to the man of the hour.

What a scoop.

Do you think it's possible?

Do you think Dante Bazán is capable of a triple homicide?

Not the Dante I defended.

But prison-- prison can change you and…

And it changed Dante completely.

Justice…

The system…

the system owes Dante.

What's up?

He's been a fugitive for four years.

In 2019 he was granted temporary leave, and he didn't come back to prison.

We haven't heard from him since.

According to the passengers on the bus, Bazán has a phone.

If he does, it's not in his name. Nor does he have a known address.

If we don't have an address,

- how do we know where he lives? - Look.

He tried to steal a car at a gas station. That's him.

I don't get it. Why doesn't he fight back?

He needs the car badly, and he doesn't use the gun.

He left the jacket, and we got it.

This was inside. It's a laundromat token. We know where it is.

Are you going over there?

- Yeah. - Keep me updated.

Yeah, all right.

Unit three! Come on, let's go!

Go, go, go. Move!

LAUNDRY

- Here. - Let's go.

Come on.

Go, go.

Let's go up, okay?

Up, up.

Come on.

Hey, police!

Do you know this man?

- Yes. Down that way. - Come on.

Come on.

Let's go, let's go.

Lower your voice.

- Nothing? - Clear.

What's all this?

Mr. Bazán, did you help your sister die,

- either actively or passively? - No.

No, when I got there, she was already dead.

Good morning, Doctor.

Could you please tell us the most probable cause of death for Lucía?

Bleeding by a cut to the iliac vein with a knife.

Mr. Bazán, did your sister ever ask you to help her die?

No.

Were there any traces of drugs or medicines in the toxicology report?

Only painkillers. They're commonly prescribed to ALS patients.

What was your relationship with your sister? Were you on good terms?

I would have given my life for her.

The death you're describing, is it painful?

No. Even less so with painkillers.

The victim slowly drifts away, in a sense.

I see.

Could we then say it's a comfortable way to commit suicide?

Objection. Leading.

Sustained. Counsel, no more insinuations. Limit yourself to the facts.

All right.

If you keep throwing shit at him, over and over again,

something always sticks in the end.

So you're convinced Dante didn't kill his sister.

Sure, that's just what you need, right? For him to be innocent.

Because if the vigilante is a murderer…

what a monster, eh?

You're left without a hero.

You'll have to excuse me. I have a trial to get to.

NEW RECORDING

We're back to square one. We can't find him.

Aren't you afraid?

Of what?

Of how much we can change.

At that time, Bazán was already the murderer he is now.

People don't change, Fran.

Thanks.

I told you I'd call you. Don't call again. I'm hanging up.

No, Camil, listen. I need another name.

No way. I've already put my neck on the line giving you the fugitive's name.

And you got paid, right? Would you like to keep it that way?

If you get all cocky, I'll sell the information to another newspaper.

And if you get all cocky, I can report you,

and you'll be giving out parking tickets.

Who do you want now?

Jimena Cabello?

Jimena Cabello?

Are you Jimena Cabello?

- Yes. - Hi, nice to meet you.

I'm Leyre Palacios from Control Directo.

Can I take five minutes of your time to talk about something?

I appreciate you doing this, honestly.

What is it exactly that you'd like to know about juries of peers?

Well, since you were the foreperson of the jury, maybe you could tell me

what a deliberation among seven people looks like.

For example, in your case, how did you decide?

Look, to begin with, I'll give you a headline.

"Stick to what you know."

Let judges judge, and let the rest of us do our own thing.

What do you mean by that?

Well, all I'm saying is pray you're never judged by a jury of your peers.

An IT consultant, a butcher,

a university student, a good-for-nothing, a teacher, a rancher, and myself.

You tell me what the fuck we knew about the law.

There were two types of jurors.

Those who delegated their vote to others,

and those of us who knew our vote could fuck someone's life up.

- He killed his sister, and that's that. - Really?

She wouldn't hang out one brother to dry to save another.

- Right. - I think it's a fucking setup.

These companies are just after the money.

Anyway, the jury agreed on one thing.

The insurance company's hypothesis was outlandish.

Right, but you found him guilty. What made you change your mind?

She did.

Please state your full name.

Eva Arenas Gomar.

Ex-wife of the defendant, right?

Up until when were you married?

He filed for divorce a year before Lucía died.

Marriage wasn't for him.

I see. Mrs. Arenas, were you surprised when you learned Lucía Bazán had died?

Mrs. Arenas, when you learned Lucía had died, what did you think?

I thought about a day, a night, Dante and I spent together.

He brought over the divorce papers, and, although we were getting separated…

we spent the night together.

It must have been, I don't know, 3:00 when I woke up.

That look…

Something was eating him up inside, and he told me.

He said that--

that Lucía had already started having symptoms of-- of the disease.

That she could no longer work on her paintings, and she was depressed.

And that she said she didn't want to see her body slowly rot,

just like her mother's had years ago.

Please continue.

And…

And that Lucía-- Lucía wanted to commit suicide.

She hadn't done it because they would take Álvaro's house.

She said she had a plan.

But she needed Dante's help.

Mrs. Arenas, did Lucía ask the defendant to help her carry out that plan?

And did the defendant agree to help his sister?

I-- I don't know. I never asked him.

It was like an impossible goal in the last minute of the game.

Suddenly, the idea that the defendant had killed his sister

didn't seem so outlandish.

Do you believe the ex told the truth?

What do I know?

Did they motivate her to testify? I'm sure they did.

During the final deliberation, we voted based on our feelings.

Can you read the verdict, please?

This jury has decided, with five votes for and two against,

to declare the defendant…

guilty.

Fourteen years for killing his sister and an extra three for fraud.

In hindsight, what we did was unfair.

Unfair? In what way?

Unfair, unfair.

In dubio pro reo. It's the first thing they teach you in law school.

I only learned it later.

It means, if there is any doubt, always rule in favor of the defendant.

So, if you're not a hundred-percent sure the defendant is guilty,

then they're innocent.

The people aren't equipped to impart justice.

You have to get to the truth through reason, not using your gut.

I guess you could use these.

You don't have to help me.

Are you sure you have to do this?

If you do it, you know that will only cause your siblings more pain.

Father,

when I got on that bus, I was sure about it.

I have to do this.

Chief.

- Nothing, right? - Nothing.

We have to reveal his identity. We have no choice.

Are you sure that's the best way to find him?

There's already a media frenzy surrounding him.

I see no other option.

The witnesses won't say anything more, and they've asked for a lawyer.

And even if they did, they all lie through their teeth.

The system… The system owes Dante.

It's fucking great, Leyre, but we can't use it.

She'll sue us. She's a lawyer, Leyre.

Martos, how many views does my piece on the vigilante have?

I don't know, I've lost count. A lot, who knows.

Then let her sue us. More publicity.

This is getting worse by the minute.

We've already had 30 people call in saying they're the fucking vigilante.

Let's reveal his identity.

We'll cover the country with posters of his mug, and this shit show will be over.

Okay, publish it.

Say who the vigilante is,

and talk about his background as a victim of the justice system.

Okay, but first I want to talk to his ex.

I want to know if she lied.

People are all for him because the press is turning him into a god.

We have to counterattack.

We'll tell them he killed his sister, and that he's a fugitive.

We have to make it clear that he's an asshole.

What if she didn't lie? What if your vigilante killed his sister? Huh?

Then I don't have a story.

The myth dies before it's even born.

CAMIL CELL PHONE

Camil, do you have a phone number for the ex?

No. I'm calling to warn you.

Warn me about what?

We're going to reveal his identity.

Camil, come on, for fuck's sake.

There's nothing I can do.

Publish now, or we'll squash your scoop.

Oh, and we're bringing up all the shit from his past. I'm sorry.

- Borque. - Yeah?

We need the full report from the trial when Bazán was convicted of homicide.

- Done. - Why are you looking for him?

- Did he do something wrong? - That depends on who you ask.

Do you recognize anyone in this picture with him?

- No. Who are they? - His siblings.

Jorge didn't have siblings.

- Jorge? - Yes, Jorge.

The mailbox.

His new name.

I'll call the judge to get a warrant to open this mailbox

and another one to track Jorge Díaz Donoso's phone.

What's this circus?

MANRESA POLICE STATION

Fuck.

- What's up, Alonso? - Chief.

The families of the witnesses demand to talk to you.

Of the people in custody, Alonso.

Tell them they won't see them until after the hearing with the judge.

- If they're set free. - Okay.

Freeze! Drop your weapon!

Drop your weapon right now!

You were looking for me? Here I am, you bastards!

- Drop the gun! - I'm the fucking vigilante!

I'm justice!

- Me, not you! - Drop the gun!

The gun on the ground, now!

Are you gonna tell me what to do?

You? I decide! Me!

- Disarm him. - Disarmed.

Call an ambulance. An ambulance!

Hi, yeah, we're…

I'll get in touch when everything is ready.

We've tracked his phone, but it's a wide perimeter.

What was that? Gunshots?

- Where's the fugitive? - The fugitive is alive.

We have his phone, and we'll find him.

THE VIGILANTE'S PAST

Can't you pinpoint the area?

Not if he doesn't ping from other antennas, no.

What will happen to him? If they catch him, what will they do to him?

Your hero isn't as good as he seems.

I've got something. It's a weak signal.

He not only killed three people on that bus,

he also killed his sister.

WAS CONVICTED OF HOMICIDE

In cold blood.

THE SYSTEM…

…OWES DANTE BAZÁN

Dante Bazán is a son of a bitch, and you're helping him.

You're helping him.

The vehicle has stopped. We have a smaller perimeter.

We have him.