All language subtitles for Documentary Now s01e04 The Eye Doesnt Lie.eg

[lively instrumental music]

Good evening.

I'm Helen Mirren,

And you're watching
Documentary Now! Season 50.

There is perhaps
no stronger evidence

of the power of documentary

than the film that exonerates
an innocent man.

That was what the director
ol The Eye Doesn't Lie

set out to do in 1985.

E njoy.

[somber orchestral music]

(Lentile)
So I was driving from, uh, Beaumont, Texas, uh,

to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I go to the Santa Fe
Jazz Guitar Festival.

On November 29. uh, I s--

saw a hitchhiker, you know.

He looked like he was down
on his luck,

and I could use the company,

and I thought, "Well, you know,
I'm gonna help this guy out."

lwas, uh, hitchhiking along
Route 281 in San Antonio,

because, uh, seemed like
a nice thing to do at the time,

and, uh...

must have been about 8:00,
thereabouts,

about--just getting dark.

anyway, this dude pulls over,
and, uh, says, "Get in."

(Lentile)
He gets in.

And he sits down, and he says,
�Hi, my name's Robbie."

I introduced myself, and he
seemed like a nice enough guy.

He's one of those real,
you know, real guy-guys.

You know what I mean?

Those guys who just really�

The real, you know...
Real guys, you know.

(Wheadlan)
I got in the car, and the ?rst thing I notice is

it's very clean,

and he had a shirt on, the kind
of shirt you buy on vacation.

I think it said, "resort."

He was wearing a, uh--
a braided belt,

and, uh...

Didn't take me long to notice

that this was not
my kind of guy.

And, uh, that man was--
was Don Lentile.

You know, they have this saying
that, uh, bad things happen

to good people, and, you know,
if that's true,

I must be some kind ofa saint.

You know?

[music fades]

[sirens blaring]

[somber music]

[click echoes]

[click echoes]

[engine revving]

[air rushing]

w?r

(Lentile)
So I'm eating a grand slam breakfast,

which was, uh, undercooked,

and l was so mad about that,
so, you know, l--

I took out a napkin, I borrowed
a pen from the waitress,

and I said, "I'm gonna write a
note to the manager," and I did.

I said, you know,
�You got--

"you got to cook
everything through,

you know, especially when
you order it that way."

And, uh...

I look over and all ofa sudden

these two policemen walk in,

and they come up to my table.

And they say, �Come with us."

We go all the way to this, uh,
interrogation room.

And this oop puts this
confession in front of me

and it says that I killed
a man.

And why would I sign something
like this, you know?

And he says,
�You're gonna sign it."

And I said, "I'm not gonna sign
anything without my realtor

looking it over first."

And he says,
�You're gonna sign it

or you're never gonna see
your wife again."

I said, �Guess what.

I'm happily divorced
for 11 years."

He says, �Guess what then.

You're never gonna see your kids
again."

I said, "I don't have any kids.

You know, something's wrong
with my ex-wife's uterus."

I don't want to go into it
in detail,

but her ovaries kind of recoil
back like a vacuum cleaner cord.

But to respect her privacy,
you know, for this,

rn just...

tell you about the rest
of the story.

So, you know, this cop puts
a gun on the table,

and he says, �Pick that gun up."

So I said, "All right.
You know.

You're apparently the boss
here."

And I pick it up, and he said,

"You just pulled a gun
on a cop."

I said, "What?

You just told me to do it!"

[gun clicks]

You know, this cop
pulls a gun on me,

and he says, "You know, you
better sign the statement."

I said, �Buddy, that's the exact
wrong way to deal with me."

I mean, the idea that I would do
something like this is...

is crazy.

John Patrick Winslow,

a carvvash sign-spinner

at the corner
of 31st and Alamo,

was working one evening.

Now, this young man
was very popular

due to his special style
where he would spin the sign

and ride the sign like a rocket.

At about 9:13 that evening,

a car approached the young man.

The driver proceeded to ?re
a .357 caliber pistol

at Mr. Winslow.

At the same time,
a creamsicle truck pulled up

100 yards up the street.

A policeman, or should I say
a policewoman--

because she was a woman--

heard the shots and went after
the gunman�s car.

She ?red six times...

hit nothing but the in?atable
carwash blow-up...

thingy.

ml?

Of?cer Barnsby, the woman,

managed to see the car
was a blue four-door

but was unable to recall
the license plate.

She then proceeded
to check on Mr. Winslow,

who by that time had died.

(man)
Robbie Wheels Wheadlan was a local kid

who had a knack forgetting
in trouble with the law.

We'd picked up Robbie
in connection with a robbery.

A man Robbie's height,
wearing a mask,

had robbed a convenience store
of its scratch-off tickets.

And 30 minutes later,

Robbie entered the store
with the tickets,

complaining that there wasn't
a winner in the bunch.

These sort of misunderstandings

were happening with Robbie
all the time,

but we knew he was a good kid.

Everybody liked him.

Every cop in town knew
Robbie Wheadlan.

He was always out raising Cain
and causing trouble,

cutting class and shooting off
bottle rockets.

(man)
Robbie had a way of knowing about other criminal goings-on,

so I said, "If you have anything
about this carwash shooting,

now would be the time
to use it."

And he said, "I'll only tell you
if you wear a sign

that says 'kid sister."'

So I make a sign,
and I put it around my neck,

and I say,
�Tell me what happened."

And he says, �Who's asking?"

So I know what to do.

I said, "Why, kid sister
wants to know what happened."

And I'm doing the act-out,
and he starts laughing,

and I start laughing.

I mean, you wouldn't think

it was a murder investigation.

I mean, we were having as much
fun as Thanksgiving.

I said, "Why don't you tell me
what you know

About that night
in San Antonio."

And he handed me
a piece of paper

that said, �Don Lentile."

(Wheadlan)
l was hitchhiking through San Antonio,

So we start driving, and by now
it must have been about 8:15.

You know, he starts talking
about jazz and gypsy jazz

and all this...
stuff.

I don't know if you guys are
all interested in jazz guitar,

but it's very, very beautiful.

lt's--it's, you know,
very beautiful chords

and arpeggios.

So I put on my Poison tape,
Swallow This Live,

and I put it on
my favorite track,

which is track one,
Intro.

And, uh, he didn't like that,
and he turned it off.

I made him pop out the cassette

and put it back in his case,
close the case,

and put it back in his pocket.

And I said right there,
I said,

"If I ever get a chance
to screw this man over,

I will do it
in a hot Texas minute."

You do not mess with my music.

Especially my Poison.

Not cool.

I Want Some Action Tonight--

He wasn't into that.

I think he thought I didn't get
what that meant.

lsaid�l said,
"I know what that means."

You know?

And we're driving along,

we kind of went by this carwash,
you know,

and I see this guy;

he's spinning around
one of them signs.

And Robbie, the passenger, says,

�That guy sucks."

I'm using his language.

"Someone should shoot
that dude."

I said, �You obviously have
a lot of issues."

[chuckles]

He asked me to pitch in for gas,

And I said, "Well, I don't have
any money;

that's why I'm hitchhiking."

So he wrote his name and number
and address on a piece of paper,

and he said, "Be a friend;
do the right thing."

And I said, �All right."

And that's the last I saw
the dude.

[sign buzzing]

(Lentile)
Anyway, I go to a motel in San Antonio

where my brother was waiting.

I know it's 9:00 PM.
because, urn,

I had to shush my brother so we
could watch Mama's Family.

That's the one where the son
wants to start the dry cleaner.

[TV set humming]

[dramatic music]

As a homicide detective,

I consider myself an excellent
judge of character.

ldid not like Don,

right away.

When I asked him about
the killing,

he showed no remorse.

They kept saying to me,
�Don't you have any remorse?"

I said, �No!"

When you're interrogating
a murder suspect,

you try to break them
with no sleep,

with no food,

but Don, hejust had trail mix,
like, in every pocket.

You'd think he was out
of trail mix,

and then suddenly he'd be eating
more trail mix.

And this wasn't even that fun
trail mix

with the pretzels
and the M&Ms.

This was that real dry
raisiny trail mix.

(man)
I'm ashamed to say, but I pulled my gun on him at one point,

said, �Stop eating
that trail mix."

(man)
Even with Robbie's testimony,

we had problems
building our case.

First off, Roberta Barnsby

still couldn't remember anything
about the car.

The only thing she remembered

was shooting
the inflatable thingy

and dropping the creamsicle.

(man)
Maybe Of?cer Barnsby had creamsicle on her gun.

[g unshots]

And maybe that means she stopped

to have a creamsicle after
she heard shots ?red.

And, yes, maybe that makes her
a bad police officer.

But, I mean...

just look at Don Lentile.

(Lentile)
I told a Q-tipjoke.

I said, uh, "Does anyone have
any Q-tips?

Because I can't believe
what I'm hearing."

[exhales sharply]

(man)
You know, Don wouldn't talk,

and it was a total dead end.

And then a month after
the shooting,

we got lucky.

(man)
Now, I was closing up the pawn shop that night,

listening to
a Johnny Mathis record.

Now, it was a few minutes
after 9:00 PM.

When I heard what sounded like
a--a POP-POP-POP!

[g unshots]

And I thought, "Uh-oh.

"Maybe there's some kids outside

playing with firecrackers."

And then I thought, �Wait,
this isn't a time of year

for firecrackers."

So I thought maybe some popcorn
901 WWW.

but, you know, none
of my neighbors like popcorn,

so then I thought,

"Maybe it's part of this
Johnny Mathis track."

So I took the LP and looked
at the liner notes,

and there was nothing about
no pop sounds on that LP.

So I ?gured, you know,

I better see what's going on.

l--l looked out
the pawn shop window,

and in between the guitar
and the--and the toaster,

I could see that sign-spinner
lying on the ground

and then a car right next to him
with a gun sticking out.

Now, I remember making
a mental note of that,

because I distinctly saw
the back of that car,

a gray Ford Jabroni
and a license plate that said

"I heart puss."

The pawn shop owner said he saw
a gray Ford Jabroni

speed away after he heard
the shots.

Now, of course, he was mistaken,

because Don Lentile doesn't
drive a gray Ford Jabroni.

Don drove a beige
Chevy Boca Raton.

Fun fact: Robbie Wheadlan

Actually did have
a Ford Jabroni.

But anyway...

"I heart puss"
was Robbie's plate,

but it got us thinking,

why not ask if Don's plates
rang a bell?

It's perfectly reasonable
that one could confuse

Don's license plate
"lJazz!"

With Robbie's license plate
"I heart puss."

Eye witness is your
best witness,

because the eyes don't lie.

Memory knows what it saw,

and if your memory's confused,

then we can give it
a little nudge.

We said, "Look, why don't you
take a minute

and ask yourself: Is it possible
I saw a Chevy Boca Raton?"

And he said,
�It's technically possible,"

and I thought we got him.

We got Don Lentile.

l was so happy.

I called him some other
detectives,

and we picked up
Robbie Wheadlan,

and the group of us got drunker
than a monkey's ass.

We had enough to indict.

You know, looking back, maybe
I changed my story a bit

or--or maybe I said

what I thought the police
wanted to hear,

but, you know, l'ma--l'ma
let the police sort that out.

You know, that's...

that's none of my business.

But I wasjust glad
I could help out.

[lively music]

(man)
Jeffrey Ray Dupree was known for his ability

to get a conviction.

He was, uh, especially eager
to try this case,

because he made a bet with
a rival prosecutor

about who could get the most
death penalties that year.

Dupree was something to see.

In his opening statement,

he laid out how Don
was driven to kill

after a terrible divoroe.

Uh, me and my ex-wife, we're
actually very good friends.

It was a very, uh, amicable
divorce.

I would describe it
as immediately amicable.

(woman)
My father, Earl Yoder,

was one of Texas's best
defense attorneys

in the $200-$300 range.

He passed away
a few years ago,

but I was there
for all of the trial,

and there were many holes
in the case.

It was proven that the shooter
was right-handed.

But Don Lentile's right hand

is permanently asleep.

It's not completely useless,
just the...

you know, if I try to put
a cup in it,

there's...

I mean, it's not paralyzed
or anything.

It's just with gripping things,

there--
there you go.

Once in a while...

Don also had two alibis.

Because there was static during
Mama's Family,

He called down to the motel
front desk to complain.

(Lentile)
Oh, yeah, I really reamed into that woman.

It's unacceptable.

You pay for a motel room;
you expect a TV to work.

(woman)
And the motel operator's log

shows the call came in
at 9:09 PM.

It's not one of those calls
you forget.

He had been very rude.

Her testimony should have been
enough to acquit Don,

but as soon as she took
the stand,

he lit into her for the whole
TV static thing again.

I said, "Oh, you're gonna come
to court, but, you know--

you don't walk down to room 42
to check out my TV?"

Something inside of me snapped,

and ljust stood up
and screamed,

"People like you should die!"

And you have to remember,
this was a defense witness.

Our other witness
was Don's brother.

Paul Lentile,
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He was at the motel when he got
home at 9:00 PM,

but he proved to be
an unusable witness.

I'm really terrible with dates.

I'm not good.

I can remember faces;
you know, baseball stats.

You know, what Cincinnati Red
had thee most RBIs?

|..
that's one I don't know.

I forgot that one already.

It was a train wreck.

You know, I was real nervous

about telling my story in court,

You know, because I knew there
was a lot of holes and whatnot,

and, well, my timeline was
basically a circle, you know.

So I was getting ready for Don's
lawyers to really lay into me,

and, uh, that was around
the time

Don started eating
his chocolates.

(woman)
Each morning in court,

his brother would bring him
a box of chocolates,

and he would eat each chocolate

and kind of comment
on what each ?lling was.

I'd say, uh, "Oh, this one's
gonna be cherry,"

And, �On, ooh, it's cherry!"

Or, you know, uh,
�This one's gonna be coconut."

He was just naming off

every single filling
to these chocolates,

and I thought,

"I'm gonna be ?ne."

If I was his lawyer,

I would have said,
�Cool it with the chocolates."

(woman)
Of course dad was beginning to suffer from dementia

by the time the trial
rolled around,

and for some reason,
he got it into his head

that Don was a Nazi sympathizer,

and he tried to wrestle him
to the ground.

People say there should have
been a mistrial,

but I do think my father
did his best

to represent Don Lentile.

But some people
you just can't defend,

no matter how innocent they are.

l butchered my story.

I mean, the lawyers caught me

in about 500 lies, you know?

But...

I think thejury liked me
just because I wasn't Don,

you know?

In his closing statement,

the prosecutor played
a long track

from a jazz guitar album
that Don listened to

the day of the murder,

and Don, god bless him,
he closed his eyes

and snapped along,
just loving it.

I Ra-ka, ga�day J�

I Ka�daka�daka J'

[imitates hi-hat cymbals]

J� Ka-day, ka-ding-ding,
do�do, do�do J�

I Da-do�do�do I

I Do-do�do�do I

You know, that kind of thing.

(man)
When thejudge said, "death,"

the whole place lit up.

l have never seen a standing
ovation in the courtroom.

I mean, people were happy.

I think we provided
an open and shut case.

No, there was
no physical evidence,

but if you take one look
at him,

you can tell he should be
behind bars.

Someone said to me,
�Would you do it again?"

"but I would do it
a million times again.

To you, to anybody."

They said, "Are you a threat?"

I said, �You bet I'm a threat!

"I'm a threat to everybody!

Watch it!"

[man speaking]

[g unshots]

[somber orchestral music]

[P0P]

[air rushing]

(Lentile)
Uh, do I think Robbie did it?

Nah, I don't know.

I don't think about that.

Maybe.
That's a good question.

Why?
Did he do n?

Did he do it?

Do you know?

Yeah, you should let me know.

That'd be interesting
to find out.

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