Armed with statistics obtained by peeling for years the archives of the Mexican courts, lawyers and Roberto Hernández Negrete Layd told in the documentary presunto culpable if the young Toño disaster. Sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for murder with a firearm, he was convicted solely on the statements of the victim's cousin (and the only witness to the crime).
The two lawyers had no plans to tell the story of Toño. They were about to complete their doctorate at Berkeley when they were contacted by Toño's fiancee. The young woman had heard of them by a documentary (El túnel) [in 2006] in which they had demonstrated the arbitrary aspects of the Mexican penal system; desperate, she told them about her fiancé in jail and has Reclusorio Oriente sought to reopen his case.
For the first review, and Roberto Hernández Negrete Layd have been spoiled for choice because it was riddled with irregularities. They have chosen a more symbolic: the business card of the defense counsel was wrong. A retrial was not without risks Toño, which could incur a penalty more severe.
In more or less normal, this kind of reasoning would seem absurd. The lawyers soon realized that the circumstances were far from normal or fair. But nothing had prepared what was to follow. Live from Berkeley, they taught by telephone Toño the art of advocacy. With his new lawyer (strong, well-intentioned and do not touch fee), the accused has learned to prepare his defense.
The metamorphosis of Toño, poor staff and the fragility of the control (obviously manipulated and intimidated by the police) are recorded by the camera, which, by dint of insistence from Layd Negrete and Roberto Hernandez, was installed in the court to film the second trial. These images are the backbone of presunto culpable and the most decisive argument in favor of the trial filmed.
The viewer is sometimes hard to believe his eyes, especially before the confrontation between the two versions of the truth - one made transparent and the other - and the succession of violations committed against an individual when is presumed guilty. If the images of the trial are very eloquent, presunto culpable is an amazing film because it contains all the elements of good fiction.
On the one hand, a character that is not only a victim but as a composer of hip-hop, breakdance amateur, and establishes connections between this style of dance and defense (where discipline, focus and balance are required); the other, the shabby: a judge who responded to each question in the new lawyer, raising his eyes to heaven, a prosecutor accusing people for no good reason that "it is his job" and two court employees responsible for security who seek to intimidate lawyers and cameramen.
Although the history of the spring Toño is dramatic and documentary makes clear the aberrations of the Mexican justice system, presunto culpable should not be seen as a fairytale with a happy ending. It is an extraordinary story with tragic dimension must not be obscured, because the release of Toño is an exception to the rule.
If chance had not intervened - through Layde and Roberto Hernandez Negrete, dedication and commitment, and especially thanks to the cameras - the details of his detention would have been buried forever with the irregularities of the file , cynicism and lack of ethics that prevailed during the second trial (Toño and would have remained buried alive as thousands of others).
When Layde and Roberto Hernández Negrete presented the film's trial before the appellate court, judges have recognized that there are grounds for doubting the guilt of Toño. In a judicial system based on the presumption of innocence, reasonable doubt is sufficient to prevent said a verdict too harsh.
In the system responsible for the case of Toño (late 2005 to mid-2007), the report on the lack of powder, clear proof that he could have used a firearm, was not considered something deserving the attention of the judge. Some would say that in a country like Mexico, "give away" the benefit of the doubt to an inmate is to give the coup de grace to the moribund social stability.
However, the apparent lack of rigor in trials not only gives rise to unjust imprisonment, but also to release "legal" known criminals. To make his point of view, presunto culpable chose to show one of the least known aspects of judicial arbitrariness ("a prison full of poor guys," the second lawyer Toño).
The other face of this arbitrariness, however, also appears. Only his face is his voice. In an interview with an anonymous patrol, a police officer explains that in order that criminals spend some time in prison, the police their charge another offense in addition to that already committed.
Otherwise, he says very sure of himself, the lawyers arrive and hand them free. 
The two lawyers had no plans to tell the story of Toño. They were about to complete their doctorate at Berkeley when they were contacted by Toño's fiancee. The young woman had heard of them by a documentary (El túnel) [in 2006] in which they had demonstrated the arbitrary aspects of the Mexican penal system; desperate, she told them about her fiancé in jail and has Reclusorio Oriente sought to reopen his case.
For the first review, and Roberto Hernández Negrete Layd have been spoiled for choice because it was riddled with irregularities. They have chosen a more symbolic: the business card of the defense counsel was wrong. A retrial was not without risks Toño, which could incur a penalty more severe.
In more or less normal, this kind of reasoning would seem absurd. The lawyers soon realized that the circumstances were far from normal or fair. But nothing had prepared what was to follow. Live from Berkeley, they taught by telephone Toño the art of advocacy. With his new lawyer (strong, well-intentioned and do not touch fee), the accused has learned to prepare his defense.
The metamorphosis of Toño, poor staff and the fragility of the control (obviously manipulated and intimidated by the police) are recorded by the camera, which, by dint of insistence from Layd Negrete and Roberto Hernandez, was installed in the court to film the second trial. These images are the backbone of presunto culpable and the most decisive argument in favor of the trial filmed.
The viewer is sometimes hard to believe his eyes, especially before the confrontation between the two versions of the truth - one made transparent and the other - and the succession of violations committed against an individual when is presumed guilty. If the images of the trial are very eloquent, presunto culpable is an amazing film because it contains all the elements of good fiction.
On the one hand, a character that is not only a victim but as a composer of hip-hop, breakdance amateur, and establishes connections between this style of dance and defense (where discipline, focus and balance are required); the other, the shabby: a judge who responded to each question in the new lawyer, raising his eyes to heaven, a prosecutor accusing people for no good reason that "it is his job" and two court employees responsible for security who seek to intimidate lawyers and cameramen.
Although the history of the spring Toño is dramatic and documentary makes clear the aberrations of the Mexican justice system, presunto culpable should not be seen as a fairytale with a happy ending. It is an extraordinary story with tragic dimension must not be obscured, because the release of Toño is an exception to the rule.
If chance had not intervened - through Layde and Roberto Hernandez Negrete, dedication and commitment, and especially thanks to the cameras - the details of his detention would have been buried forever with the irregularities of the file , cynicism and lack of ethics that prevailed during the second trial (Toño and would have remained buried alive as thousands of others).
When Layde and Roberto Hernández Negrete presented the film's trial before the appellate court, judges have recognized that there are grounds for doubting the guilt of Toño. In a judicial system based on the presumption of innocence, reasonable doubt is sufficient to prevent said a verdict too harsh.
In the system responsible for the case of Toño (late 2005 to mid-2007), the report on the lack of powder, clear proof that he could have used a firearm, was not considered something deserving the attention of the judge. Some would say that in a country like Mexico, "give away" the benefit of the doubt to an inmate is to give the coup de grace to the moribund social stability.
However, the apparent lack of rigor in trials not only gives rise to unjust imprisonment, but also to release "legal" known criminals. To make his point of view, presunto culpable chose to show one of the least known aspects of judicial arbitrariness ("a prison full of poor guys," the second lawyer Toño).
The other face of this arbitrariness, however, also appears. Only his face is his voice. In an interview with an anonymous patrol, a police officer explains that in order that criminals spend some time in prison, the police their charge another offense in addition to that already committed.
Otherwise, he says very sure of himself, the lawyers arrive and hand them free.
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- Cornel West and the fight against injustice - Riz Khan - Al Jazeera English (31/03/2011)
- Injustice at Every Turn: Video Story of Two Transgender Women (19/04/2011)
- The Injustice Files screening at Harlem's Schomburg Center (16/02/2011)
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