01x02 - The Kidnapping

[bunniefuu]

[man 1, on phone] Mom? How are you?

- [man 2] Let her talk.

- [man 1] How are you?

Hello?

Mom?

Hello?

[man 2] Look, get the money for tomorrow

or I'll send her in pieces.

This is not a game.

[phone crackle]

[man 3] You have 48 hours.

I'll only give you 48 hours.

Or, I swear,

I'll send her in little pieces.

[man 1] I already have some money.

[man 2] Okay, then listen.

[man 1] Give the phone to my mom.

[man 3] Don't f*ck around.

If you do, your mom is dead, got it?

[woman] It was May 26th.

I have three rooms for rent.

They were supposed to rent two of them.

While I was showing them the rooms,

they grabbed my arms

and said I was being kidnapped.

That's when they dragged me to the car.

They took me somewhere

and put me on a canoe.

They took me up a mountain,

dragging me like an animal.

At 8:00 p.m., they took me to the house

where I was going to be held.

They kept me c*ptive there for eight days.

I was tied up, blindfolded.

I didn't sleep at all

until my family paid the ransom.

One day, they told me

to get ready to leave.

They said I was a filthy old lady.

They treated me horribly.

They moved me again.

They weren't letting me go,

even though my family had paid the ransom.

They kept whispering,

so I figured they'd k*ll me.

They called some guy from Bayo

and asked him

if the area was safe and clear,

so they could dump me

somewhere over there.

[voice breaks] They left my lying there.

When I took off the blindfold,

I got dizzy and fell.

After eight days of darkness,

the light was overwhelming.

They left me lying there.

I tried to flag down the trucks,

but no one would stop for me.

A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES

[theme music playing]

[tense music playing]

PUBLIC TRIAL COUR

[judge] Your witness, please.

[attorney 1] Yes, Your Honor.

FIRST HEARINGS OF THE GLP CASE

JUNE 28TH, 2015

[attorney 1] What do you do for a living?

[witness] I'm a farmer.

[attorney 1] Do you know any of the men

that are accused for this crime?

- [attorney 2] Objection.

- Reason?

It's an inappropriate question.

The witness doesn't know

who of the people here are accused.

One of the most important changes

with this new criminal justice system

was a new way of recording the hearings.

They installed cameras

in the courts, on the ceilings, and walls.

Now, there's an official video record

of the proceedings.

[attorney 1] And before that,

did you see Mr. Gonzalo often?

Objection, Your Honor. Too suggestive.

[attorney 1] Okay

[judge] Sir?

[attorney 1]

Yes, I'll reformulate the question.

ACCUSED INMATE

I had an attorney.

During the first hearing, this attorney

He tried asking,

I don't know how many questions,

and they were all like,

"No, try it again."

He wasn't very competent as a lawyer.

[attorney 1] What do you do for a living?

Objection. He already answered.

[attorney 1] What were you doing

on May 26th?

[attorney 2] Objection. He answered.

They kept objecting to all his questions.

[attorney 1] Do you remember if,

on May 26th,

28th, 29th or 30th of the current year,

you had any contact with Mr. Gonzalo?

[attorney 2] Objection.

Reason?

It's a compound question,

very general, ambiguous,

and can be confusing.

He told me take a plea deal

and go for a short trial.

He said he could work out a deal.

The lawyer would call his sister asking

for money to file a constitutional appeal,

claiming Héctor would be out in a month.

I'd call the lawyer

to ask how things were going.

I'd call every couple of months,

and he always sounded drunk.

[Gonzalo] I told this lawyer

to go to the gas station

to get their security footage,

as well as the store's.

I told him that the footage

would show what happened.

He said, "Forget about

this gas station business."

He said that it was in the past.

"You're free."

That we'd been cleared in the ACP case.

LAWYER AND RESEARCHER

We continue to face a system

where the accused

have no means of defense,

because they can't choose

their court-appointed lawyer.

They don't pay them.

The institution isn't designed

for them to win.

I noticed that the defense attorneys

for Héctor, Gonzalo, Juan Luis and Darwin,

weren't even able to formulate

simple questions during the hearing.

So I decided to look for an attorney

who was actually qualified

to handle a case like this.

Someone recommended Andrés Andrade.

I heard he was a great lawyer,

extremely qualified.

Plus, he had previously worked

for the State General Attorney.

I thought he was perfect.

He was an amazing choice

because he understood the institution

and, as such, could expose it.

MAY, 2015

GLP IS KIDNAPPED

JUNE - HÉCTOR, GONZALO,

JUAN LUIS AND DARWIN ARE ARRESTED

FIRST HEARINGS FOR THE GLP CASE

FEBRUARY, 2016

ROBERTO MEETS GONZALO

APRIL, 2017

ANDRÉS TAKES THE CASE

651 DAYS IN PRISON

APRIL 3RD, 2017

[man] I first started working

for the State General Attorney,

at the invitation of the

Attorney General Fernando Valenzuela.

He offered me a position

in the Major Crimes division.

After a number of situations

I wasn't comfortable with,

I decided to tender my resignation.

I opened my own practice.

DEFENSE LAWYER

It was around that time,

once I had my own firm,

which specialized in litigation

for this new trial system

that I got a call from Roberto Hernández,

and he asked me

to take part in this particular case.

Eventually, we reached a point

where we brought a proposal

to the men and their families,

that their defense would be unified

with me as the lead attorney.

Alberto and I made a great team.

We had good chemistry.

DEFENSE LAWYER

I was wrongly convicted

and spent six years in jail.

After going through

such a jarring experience,

I pursued a career in law,

as a trial lawyer.

As soon as Andrés took over the case,

he started explaining everything to us.

We could see how qualified he was,

how well-spoken he was.

The difference was clear as day,

just from the way he spoke.

Other prisoners in Macuspana

started contacting us,

wanting us to look at their cases.

Surprisingly, most of them

were accused of kidnapping,

which is almost impossible,

statistically speaking.

The moment I noticed the way he spoke,

I told the other guys

"This guy is way better

than our last lawyer."

He reassured us,

and never told us to take a plea.

He was handling our case well.

The issue is that they were being held

on grounds of attempted kidnapping.

However,

Darwin was arrested somewhere else

for totally different reasons.

Héctor, Juan Luis and Gonzalo

were arrested at the gas station

for the attempted kidnapping of ACP,

allegedly.

However

they were held in custody

only so they could set up a police lineup

for the kidnapping of GLP,

who is ACP's sister.

FIRST HEARING OF PUBLIC TRIAL

JUNE 6TH, 2017

Hello.

[Roberto] Hi, how are you?

Thanks for coming.

- Thank you.

- Thanks to you.

[Roberto] How are you?

Good morning.

I'm Roberto.

I'm not part of the defense team.

I'm interested in the truth

of what really happened.

But my job is that.

To document all of this

on camera, and tell the truth.

- How are you? Good morning.

- [Roberto] Hi, Andrés.

- How are you?

- [Andrés] I'm great. Nice to see you.

[Roberto] I'm just explaining who you are.

[both laugh]

- [Roberto] This is Andrés.

- [Andrés] Right.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

I'm Andrés Andrade.

I haven't had the pleasure yet.

Let me explain quickly.

We're studying the case in great detail.

There are many elements

that could help us succeed.

We're going to mount

the best defense possible.

[Roberto] How much are you going to charge

for taking these four cases?

No charge whatsoever. Zero pesos.

- No expenses, no fees. Nothing.

- [woman] Thank you, God bless you.

No thanks needed. It's my pleasure.

[attorney] Juan Luis López García,

Gonzalo García Hernández

and Darwin Morales Ortiz,

violently,

forced the victim

into a green Jetta vehicle,

and told her that she and her family

would be deprived of life.

Héctor Muñoz Muñoz was in charge

of taking care of the victim

and overseeing her.

Their active participation will be proved

beyond a reasonable doubt.

The State General Attorney

started to get worried

once Andrés Andrade took over the case.

They decided to send in a Major Crimes

prosecutor, Francisco Vera Ayala,

to assist the prosecutor,

María del Rosario Delfín Rosales.

Attorney Delfín is the best

in the Major Crimes Division.

She's their top prosecutor.

She's in charge of all the big cases.

- And this is a big case.

- Exactly.

María Rosario Delfín is the prosecutor.

From the first time we saw her,

we were warned about her.

The fact that the victim was kidnapped

on May 26th, 2015, is not disputed.

We are categorically disputing

the participation of Héctor,

Darwin, Gonzalo and Juan Luis.

It will be proved

that there has been a complete lack

of criminal investigation

regarding the kidnapping

of the victim of undisclosed identity.

The State General Attorney

has tried to compensate this failure

forcing and inducing the victim

to incorrectly and illegally identify

these four men.

So what happened?

At some point,

after ACP accused them of kidnapping,

he and the prosecution realized

the matter couldn't go forward.

They had zero evidence, none at all.

So they decided to go after them

for his sister's kidnapping.

ACP and the prosecution

pressured his sister, GLP.

They set up a faulty lineup,

biased and purposely skewed,

so that she would identify them

as the men who kidnapped her.

[Andrés] If, when this debate is over,

the court sees

that there could be a possibility

that these men didn't take part

in the kidnapping,

it is your obligation to absolve them.

Nothing further.

The court needs you to turn over

all the information you have.

Where Darwin was, where Juan Luis was,

where Héctor was,

where Gonzalo was.

They're depending on you for any alibis.

You have to be ready,

and not make anything up.

You must be ready to tell the truth.

WITNESSES MEETING

[Andrés] I went

to the Major Crimes office.

On my way out, I ran into César Oliveros,

the Major Crimes prosecutor.

He saw me and walked over.

I've known him for years.

He looked angry.

He goes, "Are you defending

kidnappers now?"

I was taken aback,

but I greeted him politely.

I said, "I have several cases,

but if you mean the one"

"Yeah, the guys from Macuspana."

He goes, "They're guilty, you know?"

I told him he was wrong.

"No, those guys are guilty."

"They were caught red-handed.

It's a done deal."

I told him I actually wanted

to discuss the case,

but he said, "No, no, no."

He said, "It's a slam dunk."

"They're guilty. Period."

How are you feeling? Emotionally?

Good, I'm not worried.

Angry maybe?

- Well

- A little?

[chuckles] A little, but it's all good.

Yeah.

- Okay. Shall we get started?

- [Andrés] Yeah.

Hello! Please come in.

[chairs scraping]

Don't answer anything

until they finish asking the question.

It's something that happens to all of us.

We finish the question in our head

and answer quickly.

Let's say we were ready

to object to the question.

Maybe the question would damage our case,

and we could get it thrown out.

But if you answer too soon,

the objection isn't valid.

- [Alberto] She's Juan Luis's mom.

- [woman] I'm Juan Luis's mom.

[Andrés] Ma'am, what is your testimony?

What are you testifying about?

That he came home on the 25th

to celebrate his kid's birthday.

We went to her house, to my Mom's house.

Whenever there was a birthday,

she would always host the party.

We came back from shopping

and it was late

DEFENSE WITNESS

so I told my son to stay home.

And he said, "No, we need to go,

we're leaving in the early morning."

My partner, Juan Luis,

was unjustly accused.

I know for a fact that,

on the day of the events he's accused of,

he was with me.

What day do you mean?

May 26th.

But, just to be clear,

we were together from the 25th.

Nothing further.

[Gonzalo] On May 26th,

I was probably five hours away.

I was working

with Mrs. Hermelinda. With her son.

At their place.

I was fumigating.

DEFENSE WITNESS

That day, I went to see him

and ask him to help us fumigate.

- What time did you go see him?

- At 6:00 a.m.

[Roberto] Where were you

on May 26th, 2015?

ACCUSED INMATE

[Héctor] I was at work.

I worked at Techint.

When we get to work at 7:00 a.m.,

we sign the attendance sheet.

At 7:00 a.m.

- The company is called Techint?

- Yes.

- [Robert] You're a backhoe operator?

- [Héctor] Yes, backhoe.

You went in at 7:00 a.m.

and left at 4:00 p.m.

- And the kidnapping was at?

- [Héctor] At 7:00 a.m.

[Darwin] I was working

with Ms. Yazmín at the butcher's shop.

I slaughtered some pigs.

My bosses can attest to the fact

that I never missed work.

I was there every day.

I never let them down.

If I wasn't sure that he was there

that day, I wouldn't come here.

On that day,

he was working at my shop with me.

[attorney] Okay. Do you remember

what he was wearing?

Objection, Your Honor.

That is completely irrelevant.

Do you think his way of presenting himself

at work is irrelevant?

[Andrés] Objection.

- It's irrelevant.

- And inappropriate.

Objection sustained.

Do you remember seeing Mr. Darwin

talking at some point to

the man who works in the opposite stall?

[Andrés] Objection.

This question has nothing to do

with the interrogation procedure

and it's irrelevant.

[judge] Objection sustained.

[tense music playing]

That van out there is from Major Crimes.

- And the van behind it.

- It doesn't have any plates.

The van behind it

is also from Major Crimes.

Let's go over the facts one more time.

Last year, in September what day was it?

September 13th.

On September 13th

they barged into your house.

Yes.

Out of the 30 people in your house,

did you recognize any of them here today?

- Two of them. Two.

- Two of them?

What vehicle did they leave in today?

They left in the same white van

they drove to my house in.

Okay. I took pictures of a white van.

- This white van?

- [Yazmín] That's it.

- That's the same van.

- Okay.

[distant sirens wailing]

[Yazmín] It was around 9:00 p.m.

Bam! Bam! Banging on the door.

- [man shouting]

- [banging]

[Yazmín] A hooded man,

with an as*ault r*fle,

flashed a light in my eyes.

I turned to the front window

and saw 15 guys

banging on the front door.

"Dear God, what's going on?"

When they managed to open the door,

a man dragged me by my hair

towards the bedroom.

They kept yelling at me.

"Where are the drugs?"

"Where are the g*ns?"

I didn't know

what they were talking about.

They ransacked my bedroom,

my clothes, flipped the bed.

I went to wake up my children

who were asking what was going on.

[glass shattering]

A man walked up to me.

Some didn't cover their faces.

They were all in uniform. The prosecutors.

They even had their ID's on them.

A man walked over

and told me to calm down.

But this other guy grabbed me

and then hit me with his weapon.

He yelled, "What's your name?"

I asked who they were.

"You don't get to ask questions.

I ask the questions, b*tch."

Why were they doing this?

I was sure that

it was about Darwin's case.

I asked if this was

because I testified in Darwin's case,

because they had my ID.

That's why they were doing this to us.

All crimes considered

to have a major impact on society

fall into the purview of this division.

They handle kidnappings, m*rder,

r*pe, crimes where money is involved,

or that are highly violent.

If you go through news stories

from that time,

there are many accusations

of extortion, unlawful detention,

instances of t*rture.

Without any oversight or accountability,

you're creating a monster.

I was someone

who knew their inner workings

and who resigned in protest

because of their methods,

and then came back with cameras.

It made people nervous.

[preacher] but the illness came

for a reason.

Today we thank you, Lord,

for giving us once again the chance

to worship you and hear your advice.

Holy Spirit of God,

according to your word,

if two of you shall agree on earth,

anything they ask

for shall be done for them.

Father, we now ask,

with full faith in You

[preacher's voice fades]

[preacher] You know his first

and last name, Father.

Dear God,

this illness that causes him pain

The Bible says in Isaiah, chapter 53

[inmate] cut his tongue for snitching!

[Mayra] I know it isn't easy being here,

but it isn't easy out there either.

You know that very well.

You know I'm fighting

for the kids and for you.

I've told you that.

Just keep praying

and don't be pessimistic.

- You hear me?

- Yeah.

- [Mayra] Take care of yourself.

- Yeah, take care.

[Mayra] All right. Goodbye. Take care.

It's impossible to support

your family from here.

It's incredibly painful

not being able to help them.

I've seen so many guys here

lose their wives and families.

It's hopeless.

Things are different outside than in here.

Being here, far from my family

from my son

I've been separated from him

since he was only four.

GONZALO'S SISTER

His kid, like any other kid,

he asks for toys.

Every time he called, he'd ask his dad

to buy him a toy car with his paycheck.

My brother had lied and told him

he was away working.

He'd tell his son he'd get paid soon,

so I had to pitch in a little

and pay for those things.

We didn't want the boy to be sad.

I was the sole provider for my family.

I was taking care of two elderly people.

At Guillermo's butcher shop,

sometimes there was leftover meat.

I would ask if I could buy it,

but Guillermo let me take it.

That's how I would support my family.

It's been expensive going back and forth

between here, Villahermosa and Macuspana.

It's an expense.

The court doesn't pay for those expenses.

[Juan Luis]

Eventually I accepted my situation.

I had to be realistic about this,

and get myself some work.

Because I had no other choice.

I learned how to weave hammocks.

I also used to make blouses.

When they open our cells

at seven in the morning,

you "stick to the frame,"

as they say here.

You weave and weave.

If I start a hammock,

it takes me, at most,

seven or eight days to finish.

The hammock stays there

until you find a buyer.

Say, you sell it for 600 pesos,

you have to buy more thread.

Each hammock nets you

between 100 and 130 pesos.

That's for a hammock made in here.

[Eva] Whenever he finishes one,

he calls me to pick it up.

I sell them for him.

And once the client pays,

I buy the stuff he needs.

[Gonzalo] I never imagined

she'd be the one who'd stand by my side.

I remember when we were little.

Maybe when we were around ten years old,

we used to fight all the time.

[Héctor] If we don't do something here,

what else can we do?

Do you understand?

We need something, you know?

Weaving keeps me distracted.

It makes time go faster.

If you don't have an occupation,

your own thoughts get to you.

They make you sick.

If they knew how Darwin lives,

the situation his family is in,

they would quickly realize

he's no kidnapper.

You can't spend a ransom

in two or three days.

Some days,

they can't put food on the table.

They live day to day.

[melancholic music playing]

The prosecution has two jobs,

which are clear and simple

when they do it right.

First, they have to prove

the event happened,

and they have to prove culpability.

They have to prove the crime

was committed by the accused.

We will now listen to the evidence.

The first one is a DVD,

which will be played now.

Is it ready?

[man 1, on recording] Yes?

[man 2] Look, get the money for tomorrow

or I'll send her in pieces.

This is not a game.

[man 1] Hello?

[man 3] Hi, buddy.

Can you get 50,000 more pesos?

I'll release your mom right now.

[man 1] Look, I just got here.

I already have 109,000.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting

some colleagues from work

who will donate money.

Why don't you call tomorrow?

[attorney] Please, say where you work.

I work in Major Crimes.

PROSECUTION WITNESS

Please, state the reason

why you are in this Hearing Court.

Sure. For a report I presented

on August 25th.

What that report shows

is the communication

between the presumed kidnappers

and the victim's family.

With your analysis,

were you able to identify

the identity of the kidnappers?

[Rosa] No.

[Andrés] Thanks. Nothing further.

[reporter 1] More than 560 kidnappers

operating in Tabasco

were arrested from 2013.

Thus, at least 100 criminal gangs

of kidnappers were dismantled.

[reporter 2] In Tabasco, over 80 gangs

have been broken up,

and almost 500 kidnappers

were arrested and taken to trial.

The prosecutor's office of Tabasco

informed this Tuesday

that they had dismantled

three gangs of kidnappers.

Four gangs of kidnappers were dismantled

in which, at least,

21 people were involved.

Five kidnappers were arrested in Tabasco.

[reporter 3]

The State General Attorney's office

managed to break up

two gangs of kidnappers.

[man] We would like to remind you

that, beyond the results and the numbers,

which so far add up

to 400 arrested kidnappers

under the current administration,

the goal remains the same:

to enforce justice for the well-being

and peace of mind of Tabasco's residents.

[Ana Laura] It is the most serious,

important, and headline-grabbing crime.

What tends to happen

with our justice system

is that the Prosecutor's office

conducts an investigation

and arrests their suspects,

while local authorities do the same

and arrest different suspects.

There are different suspects

accused of the same kidnapping.

STATE GENERAL ATTORNEY

ATTENTION AND PROTECTION

OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

[Roberto] Mrs. GLP identified all of them

that very night, June 20th.

She identified Darwin at 3:00 a.m.

A few days later,

Mrs. GLP hops on a plane

and goes to the AG offices in Mexico City

to identify entirely different people.

Criminal Case file 33 is a file

that contains the criminal investigation

against a group of people

known as Los Potencianos.

GLP positively identified

these Potencianos

as the people who had kidnapped her.

It was a clear and evident contradiction.

It's very important for the judges

to be made aware of this file,

because they will decide whether

Héctor, Gonzalo, Juan Luis and Darwin

are responsible for the kidnapping

of Mrs. GLP.

[pensive music playing]

[woman] Go on!

[footsteps]

[woman shouts] Hello!

Is Mrs. Gladys here?

Tell her it's Eva.

Can I speak to her for a moment?

[GLP] I don't want more trouble.

You accuse me of this, of that

[Eva] No, of course not. Not us.

[GLP] I'm not scared,

but I want no trouble.

[Eva] No

She told us she didn't know

the guys in question.

She said she never identified them.

So Eva told her,

"That's what we want you to say."

[GLP] But I didn't see them.

I was kidnapped for eight days.

I was blindfolded.

I didn't see where I was

or who had taken me.

My brother's lawyer made me say

they were the kidnappers

and that was their car.

[Mayra] She seemed nervous.

She kept saying

we should go talk to her brother.

Mr. ACP.

She didn't recognize them.

Rather, before going in,

they told her what number to identify.

I asked, if they called her,

would she go to the hearing?

"If they call me, yes."

[Eva] We were told

that you refuse to testify,

because you're scared they'll hurt you.

[GLP] Why would I be scared

of them hurting me?

[Eva] That's what we're wondering. Why?

[indistinct shouting]

716 DAYS IN PRISON

GLP TESTIFIES IN COUR

I couldn't sleep last night

because we don't know.

Only God knows what will happen today.

We've been here almost two years.

One year and 11 months.

I pray to God everything goes well.

I'm a little nervous.

We want justice from the authorities,

not the opposite.

Today is the hearing.

It's the final hearing

in the case against us.

Public Trial.

It's scheduled for ten o'clock.

We're going to see the doctor.

[guard yells] Héctor Muñoz!

I pray to God everything goes well today.

God willing, I trust we'll walk free.

STATE POLICE

[indistinct conversation]

It was an emotionally charged day.

The prosecution's star witness

was taking the stand.

During her testimony,

we'd have to bring attention

to all her falsehoods.

We would introduce

the Criminal Case file 33.

It was a bombshell day.

- [judge] Careful!

- [clerk] Watch the step.

[judge] Go on.

Easy, ma'am. It's okay.

[GLP] I won't remember everything,

because it's been two years

since it happened.

During the time you were kidnapped,

did you see anybody?

[GLP] Honestly, just one person, once.

He was brown-skinned.

He was watching me.

I didn't see anyone else.

I was blindfolded the whole time.

I could only hear them.

I heard a woman, kids,

but I never saw their faces.

Ma'am, at the moment you were taken,

did you see anyone?

[GLP] No, I was shocked.

I don't remember seeing anything.

Please, state the reason

why you couldn't recognize them.

[GLP] Because of my eyesight.

I had surgery, and my vision is blurry.

Even looking at you,

I see your face in darkness.

I came because I was summoned,

but I'm not doing well.

When I heard Mrs. GLP say those words,

I thanked the Lord.

See, my family had gone to talk to her,

so I'd like to think her heart was moved

and that's why she said it wasn't us.

To be clear, you are saying

that you were not able to see

any of the three men

that kidnapped you on May 26th?

[GLP] If I saw them,

I wouldn't recognize them.

Right, so you couldn't see them properly

because of your poor eyesight.

[GLP] Yes, that's right. What can I say?

- I can't see well.

- [Andrés] You can't see well.

So you couldn't identify the people

that kept you in the safe house?

- [GLP] No.

- Okay.

That's all.

He made the decision

not to bring up case file 33

and keep the bombshell undetonated,

because during the trial,

GLP admitted she didn't see them.

Will you start

your interrogation procedure now?

[Andrés] We won't present the evidence.

No? Okay. Go on, prosecution.

The prosecution has proved

beyond a reasonable doubt

that Mrs. GLP,

victim of undisclosed identity,

was deprived of her freedom

on May 26th, 2015.

The victim claimed that,

at the time, she did identify them,

and that she testified

before officers of the Prosecutor's office

from the Anti-kidnapping Special Unit

[Andrés] Contrary to what they say,

it was proved beyond a reasonable doubt

that Darwin, Gonzalo and Juan Luis

weren't even close

to the location of the incident

on the day and at the time

of the presumed kidnapping.

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

In the back,

the guys were gripping their seats so hard

you could hear it.

They were grinding their teeth,

fidgeting constantly.

Our stomachs were in knots

because anything can happen.

On the other hand,

the prosecution, in her closing speech,

is not being truthful,

because she's declaring

that the victim, in her statement,

said that besides reporting

before the Prosecutor's office,

she also took part

in a police lineup of the accused,

which was not stated by the victim

when presenting her testimony today.

The judge was paraphrasing

each of our arguments.

Almost all the arguments

in our closing statement.

I was beside myself.

I said, "Now they're going to walk free."

Therefore, this court decides

to rule in favor

of Juan Luis López García,

Gonzalo García Hernández,

Darwin Morales Ortiz

and Héctor Muñoz Muñoz,

who shall be set free immediately.

[Gonzalo] We got our freedom back.

We got our release papers.

The prosecution had threatened us

with a 50-year sentence.

But, thank God, we got a ruling

clearing us of all charges.

Freedom, thank God.

We hugged each other, cried together.

We weren't found guilty. Ha!

When they didn't find us guilty,

I felt so relieved.

We were all so happy.

For our attorneys,

it meant that the case was over,

but for us it meant

that the nightmare had finally ended.

When I heard those words,

saying I was innocent,

a chill ran through my body

I was so excited.

I cried tears of joy

because I was finally free.

- [man] Bravo!

- [applause]

[applause continues]

- [Darwin] The lawyer wants to talk to us.

- [Roberto] It's over.

- Raúl.

- [Andrés] We'll give you five minutes.

I thought I could finally be

with my family.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

There was a dirty trick.

They had it all set up.

They issued the warrant

for ACP's case days earlier.

They reopened the case

while we were at trial.

Unfortunately, Darwin was the only one

who was able to leave at that time,

because he wasn't implicated

in the ACP case.

We had an arrest warrant

for attempted kidnapping,

not for kidnapping,

but the "attempted" kidnapping of ACP.

What did the prosecution do?

What kind of trick was that?

It was a rotten thing to do.

I looked at my children.

I didn't say anything

and walked straight into my son's room.

I just started crying and crying,

and my mother asked me what happened.

I remember that I felt my world

crumbling around me that day.

I felt a lot of things.

They knew they lost.

So they had to think of something else

to keep us

[scoffs] in jail.

[Eva] Everything changed.

We were all upset,

because we didn't understand it then,

and we don't understand now.

Why those who are supposed

to impart justice and enforce laws,

why they do things like this.

[Roberto]

How could the prosecutor do this?

María del Rosario Delfín Rosales

signed their release papers,

admitting she had no evidence

to charge them with kidnapping.

Then, two years later,

without any new evidence,

she petitions a judge

for an arrest warrant

to start a process against them

for ACP's kidnapping.

With the same evidence,

she signs their release forms

acknowledging she lacks enough evidence,

and ignores that fact

to issue new arrest warrants.

It says here,

"Notification of arrest warrant."

"Macuspana, Tabasco. May 16th, 2017."

Since May 16th.

"Arrest warrant issued

for Juan Luis López García,

Héctor Muñoz Muñoz

and Gonzalo García Hernández

for the crime of attempted kidnapping

of the victim identified as ACP."

They arrested my brother

for that on June 20th, 2015.

The authorities will see

who the criminal is here.

Because what they're doing

is an act of injustice.

Yet another injustice.

[ominous music playing]

[locks clanging]

[theme music playing]