Original subtitles

We have the paid attendance tonight, 27,458.

Right, in the case of People vs. Juan Ignacio Catalan--

Is that your true name?

Yes, ma'am.

I'm Detective Rodriguez. My partner, Detective Pinner. Okay?

Hey, what's going on? That's all I want to know.

We're hoping you're going to talk to us. Is that what you're willing to do?

You're willing to talk to us about what's going on?

What's going on?

-State your full name for the record, sir. -It's Juan Rodriguez.

Juan was in jail,

charged with the May 12th 2003 murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla.

The young woman had testified in a separate case

in which Juan's brother was a co-defendant.

Do you solemnly state that the evidence that you shall present

shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,

-so help you God? -I do.

You guys are gonna take away my life for this fucking bullshit?

The bullshit is this. You killed somebody.

Wait a minute. Those are very strong words right there.

I did not kill nobody, I would never kill nobody,

and I'd never do anything to hurt anybody.

Convince us otherwise.

Las Vegas. It's a great place to go and have fun!

We went there to uncover some of the sneaks, cheaters and sore losers,

and they were all caught on tape.

Detective Pinner, what time did the 911 call go out

with respect to this murder on May 12th?

22:43, that's 10:43 p.m.

At the time that the defendant was arrested,

did he have any facial hair?

-Yes. -And what type of facial hair did he have?

He had a mustache and he was slightly unshaven,

with a small piece of hair below his bottom lip.

Male Hispanic, black hair, very short,

5'7" to 5'11", 19 to 25 years old.

Stocky build, medium mustache--

Hair below his lip? I've never had nothing under my lip.

-What's under there right now? -I haven't shaved!

Okay, so you didn't shave this day either.

Why wouldn't I shave my mustache then?

I don't know. 'Cause you think you're cool.

Because you think there were no witnesses. But there were witnesses.

Please, you guys can't do this to me, dude.

I swear to God, on my two daughters that I love so much, man,

I did not do this.

People identified you. The composite is you.

You see, the pictures don't lie.

Well, did you investigate Juan Catalan in any way, shape, or form

before you had him arrested on August 12th?

Yes.

What did you do?

-We showed his picture to the witness. -And?

Verified that he had an apparent motive.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to welcome

more than 2,000 City of El Segundo employees, families and friends

to tonight's game.

We have the paid attendance tonight, 27,458.

Eric Gagné comes in, and he would go into Mike Kinkade's spot.

That's a strike.

Marcus Giles, with runners in scoring position, is hitting .355.

Ground ball up the middle! Cora can't block it!

And the runner's gonna come in.

Furcal scores, Giles scores, and the game has come apart on Eric Gagné.

First of all, we had an eyewitness who identified him,

and cooperated with a composite artist within days of the homicide...

...and came up with a composite

that was strikingly similar to the defendant in appearance.

She was murdered because she did testify,

and the day that she testified, which was May 1st of 2003,

Juan Catalan was present in the audience during his brother's preliminary hearing

when this girl testified.

Do you think that Juan Catalan has any kind of a legitimate alibi at all?

No.

I'm going to show you three tickets here.

Which of these tickets was the one that you possessed?

Did I explain to you that we have to tell the truth in court?

-Do you remember that? -Yeah.

If I told you that this pen was blue, would that be the truth or a lie?

A lie.

And if I told you that this microphone was white,

would that be the truth or a lie?

A lie.

You gonna promise to tell us the truth from what you remember?

Yeah.

Did you go to a Dodger game with your daddy?

-Yeah. Yeah. -This year, last year?

Did your daddy buy you anything during the game?

-Yeah. -What did he buy you?

Ice cream.

And candy.

And...

and some Dodgers cards.

Some Dodger cards?

Where did he buy the Dodger cards? Do you remember?

If Juan had the alibi, the Dodger game,

why didn't he mention it when the police were interviewing him

the night he was arrested?

You would have to ask him that.

What were you doing on the night of the 12th?

Well, I'm gonna remember,

and that's hopefully gonna clear me up, dude.

You should see the traffic.

The only thing moving is the car pool lane.

I'll never make it. I'm going home.

Hey, Daddy. You want a date with momma?

Get in the car.

I know the seats ain't way the fuck up here.

Got a problem with the seats?

You said we had good seats, club seats and shit.

-Hey, Larry. I see you got a ticket! -Yeah, the seats really stink, though.

-Can I join you? -No.

Why not?

-You're not gonna let me sit? -Not even a minute!

Thanks.

At 10:43 at night,

our defendant, by his own evidence, his own witnesses,

is on the same street as our victim, dropping off his cousin, Miguel Catalan,

about 100 to 150 yards away from the murder scene,

at the time of the murder.

So the HBO tape, in your opinion, is good only for what?

Nothing.

There's a call at 10:11 in the evening,

for 49 seconds, an inbound call.

-Whose phone number is that? -My friend.

-And did you call Juan from her phone? -Yes, I did.

-Do you recognize that number? -Yeah, that's my number.

But I don't remember if he called me or I called him.

What's the first number that you recognize?

Mine.

Which cell tower was used to receive that call at 10:11 at night?

10:11 at night, the cell site was NCA 6581...

You guys are making the biggest mistake in the world.

This night, you made the biggest mistake of your life.

No. No.

You guys are going to remember this,

'cause you guys are trying to pin somebody that had nothing to do with this.

This man would be facing the death penalty

if he hadn't, by the grace of God,

gotten Dodger tickets from someone the day before

and invited these people,

got caught on video from that HBO show.

You heard the tape of the interview with Detective Pinner.

It is clearly a one-witness ID case.

However, the one witness in this case is extremely credible,

has no motive to lie,

and made a composite drawing with a composite artist

that is strikingly similar to the defendant's appearance.

I don't have any doubt that eyewitness attempted to be credible,

but he observed this murder on a darkened residential street

under obviously the most traumatic of circumstances.

Go over and give your daddy a hug!

Hi!

Everything's over.

-Thank you, Todd. -You're welcome, man.

-I owe you, dude. -It's all right.

You owe him your life!

-I owe you. -All right.

You know what incriminating evidence is?

-Yes. -All right.

Were you asking Mr. Catalan questions

to try to obtain an incriminating response?

Yes.

Did you try to trick Juan Catalan, after he was arrested,

with a circle around his picture?

Yes, sir.

That was dishonest, right?

We're gonna begin the press conference

with the United States Attorney Deborah Wong Yang.

The indictment alleges that several members of the gang

murdered a 16-year-old girl

who had witnessed the gang's wrongdoings and was cooperating with police.