Presumed Guilty (2009 film)
Encyclopedia
Presumed Guilty shows the attempt by two young Mexican attorneys to exonerate
Exoneration
Exoneration occurs when a person who has been convicted of a crime is later proved to have been innocent of that crime. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially where new evidence is put forth after the execution has taken place.The term...
a wrongly convicted man by making a documentary. In the process, they expose a judicial system that presumes suspects guilty until proven innocent.
Synopsis
Two lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s struggle to free a man, Antonio Zúñiga, who has been wrongly convicted
Miscarriage of justice
A miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil cases. Most criminal justice systems have some means to overturn, or "quash", a wrongful...
by the Mexican judicial system. Zúñiga was arrested on charges of murder and convicted largely on the testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
of one man. However, the man was a close relative of the victim who had no firm evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
against Zúñiga, while the accused produced several witnesses
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
able to place him far from the scene of the crime at the time of the murder. Despite this, Zúñiga was found guilty
Guilt (law)
In criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a “court of law.” Being “guilty” of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law, or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute...
, and when lawyers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete learned about his case, they agreed to help him. After it was revealed that the lawyer appointed to represent Zúñiga did not have a valid license to practice law, authorities grudgingly agreed to a new trial
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
, but with the same judge presiding. This judge showed little interest in evidence that Zúñiga was falsely convicted. Battling an arrogant judge, uncooperative witnesses and a legal system riddled with corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
, Hernández and Negrete found that it was easy to prove Zúñiga's innocence, but hard to get the authorities to acknowledge this fact. Presumed Guilty was a selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
2009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
.
The story of Presumed Guilty was made into an episode of the TV series "P.O.V." that aired on 27 July 2010.
Cast
- José Antonio Zúñiga Rodríguez (Antonio Zúñiga, the wrongly convicted man) as himself
- Eva Gutiérrez (wife of Antonio Zúñiga) as herself
- Rafaél Ramirez Heredia (Zuñiga's defense lawyer) as himself
- Roberto Hernández (filmmaker/lawyer) as himself
- Layda Negrete (filmmaker/lawyer) as herself
- Hector Palomares (the judge) as himself
- Maricela Guzman (the prosecutor) as herself
- Victor Daniel Reyes (witness for the prosecution) as himself
- Jose Manuel Ortega Saavedra (Detective) as himself
Production
The film was produced chiefly by Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete. Hernández and Negrete (LL.M.Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
1996, M.P.P.
Master of Public Policy
The Master of Public Policy , one of several public policy degrees, is a master's level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to public policy and the...
1998) are candidates for PhDs in Public Policy
Public policy school
Public policy schools teach students policy analysis, policy studies, public policy, political economy, urban planning, public administration, public affairs, and public management.Public policy schools offer a wide range of public policy degrees...
at the Goldman School of Public Policy
Goldman School of Public Policy
The Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy is a public policy school and one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally named the Graduate School of Public Policy, it was founded in 1969 as one of the first public policy institutions in the United...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. They are married and have a five-year-old daughter.
Awards and honors
Presumed Guilty has received numerous awards and honors, including the following:- One World Media (London, 2010) - Best Feature Documentary
- Documenta Madrid (2010) - Best Documentary Award and Audience Award
- East End Film FestivalEast End Film FestivalThe East End Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in London. Taking place annually in various venues throughout East London, the festival "showcases hot new talent and homegrown films alongside larger independent releases and special events, informing and inspiring a new generation of...
(London, 2010) - Best Feature Documentary - Los Angeles Film FestivalLos Angeles Film FestivalThe Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times is an event held annually in June in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Film Festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single...
(2010) - Audience Award and Best International Feature - Human Rights Watch Film Festival (New York, 2010) - Closing Night Film
- Human Rights Watch Film Festival] (Toronto, 2010) - Closing Night Film
- San Francisco International Film FestivalSan Francisco International Film FestivalSan Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
(2010) - Golden Gate Best Bay Area Documentary - Guadalajara International Film FestivalGuadalajara International Film FestivalThe Guadalajara International Film Festival is a week-long film festival held each March in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. The festival is considered the most prestigious film festival in Latin America and among the most important Spanish language film festivals in the world...
(2010) - Best Documentary - Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (2009) - Amnesty International Award
- Morelia International Film Festival] (2010) - Best Documentary
- Belfast Film FestivalBelfast Film FestivalFounded in 1995 by author Laurence McKeown, in its early stages of development the West Belfast Film Festival was part of Féile an Phobail. In its third and fourth year, it was autonomous and under the stewardship of Michele Devlin and Laurence McKeown, the Film Festival ran as a citywide event...
(2009) - Maysles BrothersAlbert and David MayslesAlbert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
Documentary Award - News & Documentary Emmy Awards (2011) - Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form
Mexican exhibition and banning
CinépolisCinépolis
Cinépolis is a Mexican chain of movie theaters. Its name means City of Cinéma and its slogan is La Capital del Cine .Cinépolis is the biggest cineplex chain in Mexico with 205 theaters in 65 cities,...
announced that Presumed Guilty would premiere in its movie theaters in Mexico on February 18, 2011.
On March 2, 2011, a Mexican Federal Judge ordered that the exhibition and distribution of the documentary be suspended, on the basis that the main witness for the prosecution had filed an "amparo" for moral damage. The Cinépolis theater chain complied and suspended screenings of the film.
The suspension order was then revoked on March 9, 2011 by a higher court based on Article 6 of the Mexican Constitution which protects the right to free expression. By then, the movie had been widely distributed by street vendors as well as on YouTube.
See also
- Presumption of innocencePresumption of innocenceThe presumption of innocence, sometimes referred to by the Latin expression Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat, is the principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty. Application of this principle is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial, recognised in many...
- Law enforcement in MexicoLaw enforcement in MexicoLaw enforcement in Mexico is divided between federal, state, and municipal entities. There are two federal police forces, 31 state police forces and one estimate suggests over 1,600 municipal police forces...
- Mexico City law enforcement
- Crime in Mexico -- corruption
- Federal District PoliceFederal District PoliceThe Ministry of Public Security is the law enforcement agency of Mexico City, headquartered in Venustiano Carranza. It manages a combined force of over 90,000 officers in the Federal District ....
-- the police of Mexico City - Attorney General of Mexico
External links
- Official site
- Official site
- Presumption of Guilt -- Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
article - 'Presumed Guilty' sheds light on failures of Mexico's justice system -- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
article - 'Presumed Guilty': Kafkaesque tale of injustice -- San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
article - Presumed Guilty: Based on an Untrue Story -- Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies article
- Imprisoned In Mexico And 'Presumed Guilty' -- NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
article - PBS article on the film and P.O.V. television episode
- Presumptions of Guilt: Documentary Spurs Hope for Judicial Reform in Mexico -- article in The William and Flora Hewlett FoundationWilliam and Flora Hewlett FoundationThe William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Reddington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1967. The Hewlett Foundation awards grants to support educational and cultural institutions and to advance certain social and...
Newsletter - Two lawyers with cameras help rehabilitate Mexican 'justice', by Cathy Cockrell (1 December 2008)
- Dos abogados Mexicanos, con sus cámaras, ayudan a reformar el sistema judicial de su país, by Cathy Cockrell (1 December 2008)
- PBS Film Tells Story of Lawyers' Struggle to Free Antonio Zúñiga, by Andrew Cohen (7/26/2010)
- Presunto Culpable, Proven Innocent by Rachel Swan (7/28/2010)
- Filmmakers pursue justice in new documentary (7/15/2010)