LONG SHOT
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
THE true story of a man who was falsely accused of a brutal gangland murder is being told in a new Netflix documentary.
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.
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Martha had earlier testified in a another gang-related murder case and police were convinced that Juan was the killer.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
However, when he was in jail awaiting trial, Juan remembered seeing camera crews filming at the stadium on the night in question.
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'.
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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.
And eventually they found proof of Juan walking his young daughter to their seats inside the stadium.
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.
A year later, gang member Raul Robledo received a life term for Martha's murder.
And now Juan is hoping to get a place at university to study business administration and is now a huge fan of Curb of Enthusiasm.
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He told the : "That show is hilarious. The Carpool Lane is obviously my favorite episode.”
The Long Shot is available to view now on Netflix.
Previously we told you about the British family with seven children who lost their dad to suicide who are the subject of a heartbreaking new Netflix documentary.
We also told you how Netflix is also making a documentary about the disapperance of Madeleine McCann.
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