Draft:Juan Catalan case

The Juan Catalan case is a 2003 homicide case in the United States, in which Los Angeles resident Juan Catalan was arrested in August 2003 and falsely accused of murdering 16-year-old Martha Puebla, a police informant and witness in his brother's trial, Mario Catalan. Catalan maintained his innocence and said he was not at the scene of the crime, but rather at Dodger Stadium watching a baseball game with his daughter on the night of the murder.

After spending five and a half months in Los Angeles County Jail and facing potential death penalty, Catalan was found innocent in January 2004 after his lawyer managed to prove that he was present at the stadium during the murder, relying on Catalan's cell phone records and footage of him by HBO crew, who happened to film the stadium for the television sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm. Afterwards, Juan Catalan filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles for defamation, police misconduct and false imprisonment. In March 2007, Los Angeles City Council paid Catalan $320,000 to settle the lawsuit.

In 2008, Vineland Boys gang member Raul Robledo was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of Martha Puebla. Puebla testified at the preliminary hearing for Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma, who commited a shooting near her home in 2002. During Ledesma's interrogation, police informed him that she was the witness who would testify against him. Subsequently, Ledesma called Robledo from jail and ordered Puebla to be killed. Multiple documentary films about the case were made.

Murders

2002 murder of Enrique Acosta and Christian Vargas

In 2002, brother of Juan Catalan, Mario Catalan Jr., was driving a Ford Mustang with the Vineland Boys gang member Jose Ledesma in Lankershim Boulevard, a thoroughfare the gang considered their territory. After shouting "Where you from?" at Enrique Acosta, who was a driver of a nearby car, Ledesma shot and killed him and wounded a passenger, then fled the scene with Mario. A few days later, Joseé Ledesma arrived at the home of his girlfriend, 16-year-old Martha Puebla, who was waiting for him with her friends; Maribel and Cristian Vargas. Upon arrival, Ledesma pulled out a gun and shot Cristian Vargas five times, he was found dead at the scene.

After the murders, Jose Ledesma and Mario Catalán Jr. went into hiding from law enforcement in Tijuana. A friend of Christian Vargas told the police that Martha Puebla had identified Ledesma as the person responsible for the murders; however, during questioning, she stated that she had merely been speculating and provided little details about the crime. Subsequently, the police searched the Ledesma's family home and discovered a loaded assault rifle under his mattress, as well as letters from members of the Vineland Boys.

Two days later after the search, Mexican police received a call regarding a domestic violence incident involving a fight between Catalan Jr. and his girlfriend. Upon questioning, the girlfriend said that the two men were wanted in Los Angeles for murder. Jose Ledesma and Mario Catalan Jr. were then taken into custody and extradited to a jail in North Hollywood. During the interrogation, LAPD homicide detective Martin Pinner told Ledesma that a witness had identified him and gave him a mugshot lineup where his face was circled with the initials "M.P." (Martha Puebla) next to it along with a caption: "Those is the guy that shot my friends boyfriend". After being returned to his holding cell, Ledesma used a nearby payphone to talk to his friend, who was Vineland Boys member Javier Covarrubias. During the conversation, Ledesma ordered the murder of Martha Puebla, saying; "You know the bitch who lives…by my house?…Her name starts with an M. I need her to disappear. She’s throwing dimes”. The conversation was recorded, but the detective did not listen to it.

2003 murder of Martha Puebla

Jose Ledesma and Mario Catalan Jr. were both charged with murder; a preliminary hearing for Mario Jr. was scheduled for May 1, 2003. A search warrant was executed on Catalan Jr.'s family house where they found drugs. Despite belonging to Catalan Jr., Juan Catalan, who was in the house with his father, decided to take the blame for them because he feared the police would arrest his father for drug possession. Juan Catalan was charged with intent to distribute marijuana and faced up to five years in prison. Catalan hired attorney Todd Melnik to represent him.

At the preliminary hearing for Mario Catalan Jr., attended by Juan Catalan, Martha Puebla stated that she did not want to be there and did not know the details of the murder. On May 12, 2003, Martha Puebla was sitting outside her home in Sun Valley, talking to a friend. A man approached her from behind and asked who she was. When she replied, "I'm Martha, you know me", the man pulled out a 9mm pistol and shot Puebla in the face, killing her. He then chased to a man named Juan Ibáñez, who had been standing next to her, and fired in his direction, causing him to drop his phone at the scene. Three days after the shooting, Detective Pinner was informed by the ex-girlfriend of a Vineland Boys gang member that the gang was responsible for Puebla’s death; however, no progress was made in the investigation. The detective still had not listened to the recording of the phone call in which Ledesma ordered Puebla’s murder.

Later, two police officers patrolling Burbank Boulevard detained a suspicious man on a bicycle who claimed to be a member of the Vineland Boys. After being searched, the man agreed to be interviewed about the murder of Martha Puebla. He told the officers that Puebla’s killer was a man named Juan who had a girlfriend named Alma and a brother named Mario, he also falsely claimed that Juan drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck and had recently returned from Mexico, where he had been hiding from police. Without veryfng the claims, the police decided to arrest Juan Catalan

Juan Catalan's arrest

Jail

Juan Catalan was arrested in August 2003 and charged with murder of Martha Puebla made in retaliation for her testifying against his brother. The arrest was conducted by LAPD Special Investigation Section, who intercepted him as he was driving to his father's store. After spending six hours in a jail cell, Catalan was interrogated by detective Pinner who accused him of murdering Puebla and falsely told him that he was identified by various witnesses. Catalan insisted on his innocence, stating that he did not know why he had been arrested and had no connection to the murder. He asked to take a lie detector test but was refused.

Catalan spent three days in Van Nuys Jail before a judge transferred him to a jail in Los Angeles County. After Catalani’s arrival, a trustee inmate, who was allowed to freely walk around the facility, learned that a new inmate charged with murdering a child had arrived, though he did not know his identity; he began discussing with another inmate how they might hurt or kill him. The trustee was later detained by deputies and put solitary confinement after they caught him looking through inmate files in search of the name. Two days after the incident, Catalan was transferred to a Wayside maximum security jail where he meet his attorney Todd Melnik.

Investigation, trial and release

Juan Catalan told Todd Melnik that he was innocent and had an alibi; watching a football game with his six-year-old daughter at Dodger Stadium the day Puebla was murdered.