VILLAHERMOSA-TEAPA FREEWAY, TABASCO
[sirens blaring]
[ominous music playing]
[camera shutters clicking]
[Andrés] What we do is delicate. It's risky,
and we wanted to take advantage of this moment to share this with you,
because we think that's how things should be done,
transparently and publicly.
There was an event last Sunday, where I, along with other people,
including the forensic scientists
who are involved in one of the cases we're working on here.
The one which Roberto has been filming.
And in this situation, the vehicle we were in suddenly died.
It had an electrical, mechanical failure.
We had to pull over and, all of a sudden, it burst into flames.
[Edward] Smoke started coming out of the engine.
I thought, "This is weird. It's breaking down."
I felt the steering was stuck.
I couldn't move it, which isn't normal, even with hydraulic steering.
You can always move it.
I couldn't move it, which makes us think it was another situation.
So we, being good experts, started forming our hypotheses
about what it could have been,
and the most probable was that someone had altered something.
We will inform the corresponding legal authorities,
we will exhaust all of the appropriate investigative measures
to determine the cause of this.
But we would appreciate that the media not jump to conclusions,
because we have seen some outlets saying this was a short circuit.
In my opinion and that of the experts, that wasn't the case.
TRUCK BURNS IN MAJAHUA
The truck was locked up so we couldn't get out,
but, thank God, we were able to force the doors open.
I was in the front, we forced the doors open.
Everyone got out,
and in an instant, the truck was on fire.
When you shine a light on the shadows, the shadows disappear, right?
So making what happened to us public knowledge
should keep it from happening again.
For a moment, we thought,
"They're gone."
"They've abandoned the case, and now, all this will be more complicated."
[ominous music playing]
A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES
[theme music playing]
I think that ACP is the indirect victim of a crime.
He's from a community where, at that time, there were lots of kidnappings.
It's possible that he felt at risk of suffering the same fate.
[Andrés] You have a person whose brother, days earlier,
was the victim of attempted kidnapping.
GLP was kidnapped.
So Mr. ACP… You have to understand his emotional state.
If you're in a position where you've been the victim of this type of crime,
and you see someone get out of their car and approach yours,
you might be thinking that they're trying to kidnap
or kill you or something.
So it's understandable.
And when you understand that,
you understand that events could have happened
the way we described them.
PUBLIC TRIAL HEARING FEBRUARY 26TH, 2018
[indistinct conversation]
-[judge] You may continue. -[attorney] Thank you.
Please, address the court.
Are the people that tried to deprive you of your freedom here?
Victim, you may answer.
MR. ACP PROSECUTION WITNESS
[ACP] No… yes.
There…
[microphone static] On the left, there is…
Juan Luis.
In the middle, Héctor.
And then…
And then, Gonzalo.
Are you aware that lying in court is a crime?
[ACP] No, could you repeat that?
Are you aware that lying in court is a crime?
[ACP] Yes, I am.
[Andrés] Is it true that the person
that allegedly pointed at you with a gun
stuck his hand through your truck's window?
[ACP] Well, yes and no, because he didn't manage to--
[Andrés] Yes or no, please, sir.
[ACP] Yes.
He reached through the passenger window, right?
[ACP] Yes.
The only photos that exist in the investigation file
show that the passenger window was shattered, which means it was closed,
and shattered after being hit by a bullet fired from within the car.
When you shot, the bullet hit his right hand.
[ACP] I didn't want to hit him, just scare him.
My intention wasn't to hurt him.
It was an accident.
I think the bullet hit his hand, but I'm not sure, I didn't see.
Please, tell the court why you had that gun on you.
[ACP] It's a .22 caliber pistol
that a friend gave me to work on.
Do you have a permit for that type of firearm?
[ACP] Yes, your Honor. I have a permit
for a .22 caliber.
[Andrés] Isn't it so that you don't have a permit
to carry that particular .22 pistol that your friend gave you?
[ACP] Hmm…
Yes, I think so… I guess.
[Andrés] You guess.
[ACP] I don't know, The defense told me it wasn't carrying,
that I had registered it.
Carrying a firearm,
no matter the caliber, registered or not,
without a permit to carry firearms, is a crime.
In the end there is nothing that could legally justify him
carrying a firearm and shooting an unarmed person.
Are you aware it is a crime to carry a gun without a permit?
-[ACP] I have various-- -[Andrés] Sir, yes or no?
-[ACP] Carrying it is a crime, yes. -[Andrés] Yes or no, sir.
[woman] Honorable court, may I make a request?
Yes?
[woman] Can the victim take five minutes?
He's getting unsettled.
-Just so he calms down. -[judge 1 whispers] Does he qualify?
[woman] He is telling me his brain hurts.
That's why I want the five minutes,
so he can relax and properly answer the questions.
[judge 2] Prosecution?
Your Honor, this social worker points out
that the victim suffers from hypertension
and that apparently, a few days ago, he presented unstable angina.
[judge 2] Very well. Defense?
[Andrés] Your Honor, we have no evidence
that those statements are true.
He was responding just fine.
The questions got uncomfortable
and started affecting their case
and, all of a sudden, he needs time
to be able to think about his answers.
We don't see a justification for their request.
And as you can see yourselves, nothing was happening to him
when the psychologist interceded.
Mr. ACP, what do you have to say?
[ACP] I was in bad health in November. I--
I mean about right now.
[ACP] Well…
Let's continue.
You're in good condition to continue?
[ACP] Yes, I'd like to get it over with.
Isn't it that you never showed to any authority
the registration permit for the pistol you used to shoot Mr. Héctor?
Yes or no, please.
Mr. ACP, yes or no, please.
[ACP] I showed it to the DA.
So you showed the permit to the DA. Correct?
[tense music playing]
Mr. ACP, I'm asking you a question. Please, answer.
[ACP] No.
[Andrés, surprised] No?
[ACP] No. Actually, I told her about it.
I can't say things that aren't true.
You did not hand over the gun to the authorities. Correct?
Mr. ACP, please, yes or no?
[ACP] No. [sighs]
[Andrés] Nothing further.
[Roberto] When is the hearing?
September 7th, at 8:15.
[Roberto] So, in a month.
This keeps happening during the public hearings.
The operators don't change,
they don't change their way of acting and thinking.
They don't have social sensitivity.
The prosecution asks for a month and thinks it's fine.
And we told them, calmly,
"One month is fine for you since you're outside,
but being in prison for three years, one day, one hour, one month is a lot."
Time feels different
depending on which side of the bathroom door you're standing.
[melancholic music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[recorded message] Please, enter your resident ID number.
Please, wait while your call is connected.
The only people who've really helped us here have been our parents.
Aside from them… no one.
You already took it? How long has it been? It's been a while, hasn't it?
[Marina] We brought them in December.
Right. Since December…
December, January, February, March.
-[Marina] Yeah, it's been a while. -Yeah, it has.
-It's almost December again. -[operator] Your time is up.
[Juan Luis] Damn!
The first nine months, everyone was helping.
But after that, after the first year, they're gone.
Day by day, they forget you.
All the friends I had, where are they now?
None of them are here.
-[guard] Muñoz Muñoz, Héctor. -Here!
[Héctor] I never thought anyone would visit me here.
I didn't think that I'd make it this long.
Honestly.
We can't visit very often, because I have my two daughters.
I have school expenses.
And my parents are far away.
For my dad to visit him,
he spends almost a thousand pesos just in travel expenses.
And if they both go, it's double. And my mom takes care of my three nephews.
[Gonzalo] I told my mom not to come,
but that motherly love…
She always wants to be with me, to visit me,
because I know she can't stand seeing me here.
1,233 DAYS IN PRISON THE VERDICT
[intriguing music playing]
[inaudible]
I think what's complicated here
is the period of time between when we started
in February, which was then deferred to March, and now it's September.
So it's been six months of public trials.
With long pauses between hearings,
which causes them to lose sight of the immediacy,
the judges lose the feelings, the emotions from our arguments,
from the witnesses.
Do you feel good about it?
Yeah, we feel good. We're confident in what we've presented.
If this is resolved lawfully, there's no way they'll be found guilty.
I'm prepared, I guess, emotionally and mentally
to see him go free.
But not the opposite, honestly, no.
I thought if they say we're free, what will I do?
Run to hug my family, jump for joy, but I thought,
"First, I want to hear it."
I got up earlier than usual.
I took a shower, brushed my hair.
We prepared for the public trial.
But when we sat down and saw the judges come in,
all three of them have these looks on their faces,
like they were annoyed…
Like they were angry.
[Roberto] The process had stops and starts,
the hearings were interrupted.
But what was most worrisome was that when the verdict was going to be decided,
one of the three judges had been substituted by another judge.
It wasn't the same court.
One court heard the evidence,
and a different court would decide the sentence.
Yes, I remember how the judges looked.
It was a tribunal that didn't look comfortable.
They weren't convinced of what they were saying.
Okay. Having debated
within the time frame established by our legislation,
I will now give the floor to my fellow judge
to read out the ruling
this court of prosecution has, uh… decided on.
I felt something…
and thought…
"They won't let us go."
This court has unanimously decided
to rule against Juan Luis López García,
Héctor Muñoz Muñoz and Gonzalo García Hernández,
based on the accusation made by the public prosecutor's office
in the criminal case 33, from 2015,
of attempted aggravated kidnapping
of ACP.
I was cold. I had goosebumps.
But when I heard that, I forgot about being cold.
I forgot about everything.
Because I had made a resolution…
that as soon as I got out,
I would find work, for my kids.
Regarding the criminal responsibility
of the accused, Héctor Muñoz Muñoz, Gonzalo García Hernández
and Juan Luis López García,
we believe it was proved beyond doubt
through the logical and legal correlation of the evidence provided.
I remember we were upset because,
to start, they considered the event proven to have happened.
We were stunned.
We didn't think the events were proven to have happened,
much less the criminal responsibility,
so we knew things weren't looking good when they were explaining the sentence.
Against the accused, we have the testimony of ACP, the victim,
and of the eyewitness, ACC.
With their spontaneous, chronological and detailed statements,
they demonstrated before this court
the behavior of each of the accused men.
We deem irrelevant
the statement of Dr. Edward Charles Alexander Worrall González
about the reconstruction of the events of September 9th, 2017.
You have a public trial,
in which they are trying to discredit the experts' opinion
on the physics of the events,
because they didn't use the exact same vehicle
on the exact same day, at the exact same time,
when that's meaningless.
We're studying the trajectory of a bullet shot from a firearm,
and the wound that it caused and if that is consistent with the events.
When, in context, the ones who have the fucking responsibility
to prove guilt is them, not us prove innocence.
Andrés will tell you what will happen next,
but this isn't the end.
This sentence has no basis.
I'm so sorry.
NEW CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN TABASCO
I just can't right now.
[sobbing]
[Juan Luis] They said we'd be released.
To hell with that. I can't believe it.
I can't believe what they are doing.
No. I think if we had lied, we'd be free by now.
This is a mockery. Why did they take so long?
We don't know.
As we said, to try to justify finding them guilty.
Just closing the book on everything we've shown,
and honestly, it's impossible to think that this will generate a conviction
beyond a reasonable doubt.
[engine starts]
[siren blares]
STATE POLICE
[indistinct male voices]
Afterwards, there will be an individual sentencing hearing,
which means that,
at the next hearing, they'll tell you how long the sentences are.
Yeah, we were pissed off that day. We were mad.
We came back…
and we were down. Just thinking, "It could be a long sentence."
SENTENCE SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2018
I saw them looking, I'd say, ashamed, embarrassed.
And, at the end of the day,
when they handed down the individual sentences,
and laid out the prison time,
everyone was looking around like,
"Let's at least do this, so it isn't so bad."
For being found guilty
of the crime of attempted aggravated kidnapping,
you shall be sentenced according to article 9, first section, paragraph A,
and article 10, first section, paragraphs A, B and C
regarding kidnapping.
Each of you will serve three years and six months in prison,
and 200 days as a fine,
from the date this sentence
is declared in force.
However, the days you've been deprived from your freedom pre-trial
will be deducted.
I was like, "My God, did I hear that right?"
"Three years, six months?"
I looked at the lawyers and they were like, "You're out."
We'd already been in prison for three years, six months.
The sentence was short,
because they were pretty much saying, "This was over, that's it."
"Give me the three years, six months and we're out of here."
I was happy,
but I also knew I'd be getting out with a criminal record.
-[applause] -[inaudible women's voices]
-[man] Thank you. -No, it's okay.
[inaudible]
Goodbye, thank you.
-See you later. -[Eva] Thank you.
-[Andrés] Excuse me. -[Eva] See you.
It wasn't all happiness because we wanted them to be free right then.
But we knew it wouldn't be long. Just months, or days.
[judge] Mr. Juan Luis López García,
Héctor Muñoz Muñoz and Gonzalo García Hernández,
do you have anything to say? Any questions?
No.
-[judge] Sir? -[Gonzalo] No, nothing.
Sir?
[woman 1 ] You have nothing to hang your heads about, got it?
[woman 2] Take care, Uncle, I love you.
[woman 1] They do, but not you guys, got it?
-[man] Say hi. -[woman 1] I love you.
PRISON GUARD
Well, I think that seeing the evidence that was obviously in our favor,
this was their way of apologizing.
As soon as the window to appeal runs out, they can go.
And that's what we did.
Why would we keep fighting?
Take more time appealing the matter while they remain in prison?
They're a couple of months away from freedom.
It's about freedom and I want to be with my family.
I want to be with my son.
They've robbed me of so much time with him.
His childhood. Everything.
Don't appeal, let's just go.
So when they were sentenced to three years, six months in prison,
we were relieved, celebrating because we won.
They'll be out in a matter of months.
But we realized there was malicious intent from the authorities.
I was very worried, and I had personally sought out
the State General Attorney of Tabasco,
Fernando Valenzuela,
to express my fears about Andrés's truck.
He hadn't done anything about it. He didn't investigate the event.
He didn't do anything. The truck disappeared.
And I had a bad feeling. I think Andrés did too…
and we left Tabasco.
The guys were left alone.
And Alberto Magaña is left in charge of the case.
Anyone who wants to help, they end up leaving.
They look at us like, "What is there to gain?"
They could end up getting killed.
It's tricky, because…
you try not to think about the emotions, but they affect you.
It was a really tough day for me.
It was a hard topic.
Because my daughter was four and a half years old,
and shouting because she thought I was on fire.
That's tough.
[Roberto] Why did you stay for so long then?
Because someone has to do it.
Someone has to help change this damn country.
[Juan Luis] When there was just one day left,
we thought we had it.
We were ready to get out. We were almost out.
But on the final day to appeal,
the prosecutor's office appealed.
So, one minute before the clock struck, if not after the clock struck,
they appealed.
And neither Alberto Magaña nor Andrés could appeal.
We didn't understand. "Why the prosecutors?"
It wasn't even the victim.
It was the prosecutor's office appealing.
APPEAL COURT
They took us in and… it was just the prosecution.
The attorney, Alberto Magaña, came alone because…
so much was going on with Andrés.
There were threats against his life.
So his colleague came.
Magaña.
Honestly, there was no way to defend them.
Alberto Magaña went to the appeal hearing
because he had to go to the court to say the original sentence was adequate.
What happened next was terrible.
The defense considers that the sentence was appropriate.
The sentencing court correctly applied
article 63.
The prosecution didn't provide any evidence
to call for the maximum sentence, which is what they requested.
This hearing is now over.
And all parties,
following what article 63 establishes,
are now notified.
We all went home. We went back to our lives,
and I thought, "Everything was in motion."
I thought, "Thank God, we did our part."
"We did everything we could."
"These guys have one foot out the door."
"Just a couple more months."
They brought us back here…
and three days later, the notification came.
They said, "Guys, you're getting out. They're coming with your releases."
I was so excited.
[metal clanging]
[yells] Juan Luis López García!
Gonzalo García Hernández!
Héctor Muñoz Muñoz!
[indistinct cheering]
[inmate 1] Gonzalo García Hernández!
[indistinct cheering]
-[inmate 2] Gonzalo! -[inmate 1] Juan Luis López García!
[Gonzalo] We were so excited.
They said we had a three-and-a-half-year sentence…
but still had 50 years left in prison.
"What?"
I couldn't believe it.
Fifty years in prison?
[dramatic sting]
[ominous music playing]
[Juan Luis] I pretty much just froze.
I had a mental block.
What am I going to do here for 50 years?
[Héctor] They said we now had a fifty-year sentence.
I looked at it like… I couldn't believe it.
I told him I didn't believe it.
[Eva] It was really sad because…
I mean…
I can't even say I tried to put myself in my brother's place.
I know I'm not there.
It must be so hard for him.
It's so sad.
[Héctor] We got it, signed it, and went inside.
We went to our cells, read, talked for a while.
Fifty more years.
[dramatic sting]
[Héctor] The one standing up grabbed my head and hit me.
"Don't even fucking move!"
I told him, "I can't breathe. I can't."
But they wanted me to say something that wasn't true.
It is your right to be detained for 48 hours before you're sentenced.
That's how it reads in the Constitution.
The fact that those are our rights, I think is absurd. It's ridiculous.
I think there were a few of them,
because one held my hands, like this, subdued.
One had his…
his knee on my chest.
They use that time to obtain illegal evidence
from another case.
And in those 48 hours, they torture and mistreat you.
There was a row of bikes, and more above.
They left me there, on my knees, kind of hanging.
Since I was taken there until about five in the morning,
I was kept there.
On my knees.
I didn't sleep, didn't drink any water.
When we put public trials at the center,
we thought that just by the methodology of having a public trial
where the public prosecutor has to provide evidence
for everyone to see, including the defense,
where the judges have to figure out the sentences in front of us,
that it would end.
And what is heartbreaking is realizing
that the authoritarian inertia of the system does not stop,
even with public trials.
It's not that the public trial reform is a bad reform,
it's just incomplete.
What's missing is for the ideas at the peak of the pyramid of justice
to descend to the base of the pyramid.
So there are video recordings of police interrogations,
video recordings of operations.
Video recordings of arrests.
With that, we could end torture as a method of criminal investigation,
and change the incentive structure for agents in Mexico, for prosecutors,
right?
People would rather have innocent people in prison
as long as some are also guilty.
When I think it should be the opposite.
We should be afraid as a society
that we're considering allowing even one innocent person to be locked up
in order to get some guilty people as well.
It just isn't worth it.
Because at the end of the day, if everyone understood what's going on,
they would be afraid to leave their homes.
You don't know if, on your way to the store to pick up some cigarettes,
the police might mistake you for a drug dealer, a kidnapper, whatever.
Let us remember that the original Mexican criminal prosecution system
was a political control system.
A political control system isn't designed to uncover the truth.
And that political control system was never uprooted.
We just changed some rules and the public hearings.
There never was a fundamental, political agreement
to get politicians out of the system, first,
and second, for the system to produce the truth.
After a while, they came back.
Again, they put the bag on my head.
[sniffles]
I kept telling them I didn't know those men
they wanted me to accuse.
I said, "How can I accuse someone I don't know?"
1,914 DAYS IN PRISON SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2020
[Roberto] Two years went by after the sentencing.
In that time, Tabasco elected a new government.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the presidential election…
and COVID-19 hit the world.
This pandemic suddenly sweeping in has complicated things a great deal,
because the courts were closed,
and when they finally opened again,
they had a vacation period, and everyone went on vacation.
There's no continuity.
No awareness, I think,
by the people who make these decisions.
That there are three people…
and many more who are innocent,
who are waiting for a court to make a decision
so that they can go home.
When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
The State General Attorney of Tabasco has told us
who they are from the beginning.
They act like they'll let you go, then arrest you.
You're going to be exonerated? They arrest you again.
They aren't going to appeal and then they do.
They aren't playing fair.
And like I've told you, letting someone accused of kidnapping go free
has a huge political cost in Mexico.
Even if they're innocent.
All we have left is the legal protection of a constitutional appeal.
It's complicated.
[Héctor] How much time would that take?
All I can guarantee is less than 50 years.
For sure. That's it.
Let's go.
Thanks.
I promise you, really, I'm going to do everything I can
to speed this up.
[thunder rumbling]
[indistinct shouting]
[Roberto] Mexico has a very clear and logical rule:
the State has to demonstrate that you committed a crime.
You, as the defendant,
or as a defense attorney,
all you have to prove is a reasonable doubt.
You don't even have to prove innocence.
Despite that,
you see courts operating under a standard of presumed guilt.
Because only when you assume people are guilty,
do you look for explanations to help the prosecutors
get their sentences.
It's really frustrating for me
that the prosecutors don't understand their role,
the police don't understand their role,
the judges don't understand their role.
[Darwin] When I got out, I was ashamed. People called me a kidnapper.
ABSOLVED
[Darwin] That's why I left.
That's when I decided to start a new life,
where no one's looking for me, no one knows me.
I couldn't sleep in my house.
Whenever I saw police, I would hide,
because I was afraid they'd arrest me again.
I don't know why I'm tainted if I was declared innocent.
[Roberto] There must be something more detailed and sophisticated…
than that.
That whenever someone accuses you of a crime, that's your trial.
It's fundamental.
We have the right to freedom.
Right?
But in Mexico, you aren't guaranteed your right to freedom.
[Gonzalo] It has affected us a great deal.
Being away from my son, from my mom.
And I'm afraid that…
when I finally have the opportunity to get out of here,
they won't be with me.
Everyone knows what really happened,
but no one wants to accept that they're innocent.
Why not?
We don't get it. Why?
Being here affects you.
Unfortunately, but it's the truth.
It affects you, it's very traumatic.
It's 50 years. It's a lifetime.
You have no future.
Honestly, it's been really, really hard.
Some days, you just don't want to get out of bed.
But you remember you have two kids and you have to keep going.
Whenever he talks to me, I talk to him normally,
so he feels like we're okay.
But personally, I'm not okay.
He thinks I'm fine.
Sometimes he says it must be easy for me to be outside.
And I can't tell him it's the same. It's as though I were the same.
I'm trapped. I'm trapped in something.
[delicate music playing]
[Héctor] In prison, so many things go through your mind.
So many things.
And the easiest way out is… hanging yourself.
I've thought about it. I wanted to on that day.
You feel useless.
You want it all to be a dream.
To wake up and realize…
I'm in my house.
With those I love the most.
But no.
They've ruined our lives.
[ominous music builds]
[sniffs]
[music intensifies]
[tense music playing]
[thunder crashes]
AS OF PRODUCTION,
HÉCTOR, GONZALO AND JUAN LUIS HAD SPENT 2,268 DAYS IN PRISON
AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL APPEAL THAT COULD GIVE THEM THEIR FREEDOM
HAD NOT YET BEEN EVALUATED.
NONE OF THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN THE CASE
HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED FOR TORTURE.
MOST OF THEM ARE STILL ACTIVE, WITH GREATER POWER AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
WE THANK THE FAMILIES OF DARWIN, GONZALO, HÉCTOR AND JUAN LUIS.
EVA, MAYRA, MARINA, JUANA, MIGUELINA AND YAZMÍN.
TO MIGUEL SANSORES AND THE TABASCO INNOCENCE PROJECT.
TO THE ATTORNEYS ANDRÉS ANDRADE AND ALBERTO MAGAÑA.
TO IKER IBARRECHE, WHO TOOK OVER THE DEFENSE FROM 2020.
TO THE AUTHORITIES, CUSTODIANS AND INMATES WHO MADE FILMING POSSIBLE.
[theme music playing]
Subtitle translation by Julieta Gazzaniga