Cleared with Enthusiasm
Justice... thanks to Larry David
A man cleared of murder after he was spotted in a Curb Your Enthusiasm crowd scene has been awarded $320,000 damages.Juan Catalan spent five months in jail charged with the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, who was gunned down in front of her San Fernando Valley home.
But his lawyer was able to prove he was at an LA Dodgers baseball game 20 miles away at the time – thanks to footage shot for Larry David’s comedy.
Attorney Todd Melnik trawled through hours of footage of the game, until he found a shot of Catalan eating a hot dog.
The scene ended up on the cutting room floor of the episode, in which David ends up taking a prostitute to the ball game just so he could use a freeway car-share lane.
But a time code on the crowd footage dated May 12, 2003, was enough to prove his alibi was true.
Now Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay damages to 28-year-old Catalan.
At the time Catalan was cleared, David said: ‘You know, I've finally done one good thing in my life, albeit inadvertently.’
Published: 9 Mar 2007
