How curbing his enthusiasm saved Juan Catalan from a murder conviction, explained

Larry David, especially the fictional version in Control your enthusiasmcan be called many things – petty, misanthrope, etc. Juan CatalãoHe’s a lifesaver. In 2024, Control your enthusiasm ended after 12 hilarious seasons in which David fought a single battle against life’s daily hassles and absurd social conventions. Although many times Larry David was right Control your enthusiasmhe is one of the most selfish characters on TV. After all, this is the man who, upon learning his girlfriend had cancer, rushed home to break up with her before she received the diagnosis.

In Control your enthusiasm season 4, episode 6, “The Car Pool Lane”, Larry finds himself in one of his typical situations: he won’t be able to go to an LA Dodgers baseball game because he’s stuck in traffic.. So, in typical Larry David fashion, he hires Monina (Kym Whitley), a sex worker, but not for her standard services; With her in the car, he is free to use the pool alley and arrives at the game on time. But more than just being a great Control your enthusiasm episode, actually saved Juan Catalan from a murder conviction.

Juan Catalan’s murder charge explained

Catalão was unjustly arrested for the murder of Martha Puebla

On May 12, 2003, the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Atlanta Braves, Control your enthusiasm filmed the episode “The Car Pool Lane”, and a young woman named Martha Puebla was tragically murdered in Sun Valley, California (via MNE Republic). The week before his death, Puebla testified against Juan’s brother, Mario Catalan, in a homicide case involving gang violence. Thus, Juan Catalan apparently had a motive to kill Puebla and was arrested for her murder several weeks later.

However, Catalão was at the Dodgers game when the crime happened. He attended the game with his six-year-old daughter, his cousin and his friend Ruben. They watched the Dodgers lose to the Braves 11-4 and abandoned the game. Catalan stopped to buy baseball cards for his daughter, called his girlfriend, took his cousin home and went home himself. This is what he told the police upon being arrested and maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal. Catalan even produced Dodgers tickets as proof of his alibi.

However, the tickets themselves are not necessarily proof, as the Catalan could have simply bought them but not gone to the game. What’s more is that, According to their Catalan lawyer, Todd Melnik, they faced prosecutor Beth Silverman, who had a 100% conviction rate, and was determined that Catalan would not compromise that.. Catalão’s harrowing story was the subject of a Netflix short documentary in 2017, Long shotin which Melnik said,

We were in a huge fight. The prosecutor they assigned to the case never lost. She liked killing people with the death penalty.

How containing his enthusiasm proved the Catalan’s innocence

Without a solid alibi, Juan Catalan was seriously facing the death penalty. However, he remembered a crucial detail from the game that would be key to proving his innocence. Catalan told Melnik that someone in his section of the stadium mentioned that “Super Dave Osborne” (aka the late Bob Einstein, who played Larry Funkhouser in the Control your enthusiasm) was in the game. Melnik immediately contacted the Dodgers’ media relations department to obtain more information about who was filming on May 12, 2003.

The department informed Melnik that the production company was HBO. From there, Melnik had a meeting with Larry David and Control your enthusiasmto producers for filming that fateful day. For sure, Catalão was on camera with his daughter in the cafeteria. Melnik said (via MLB),

I actually jumped out of my chair. I pointed to the screen and said, ‘That’s him over there! Roll that tape back!

Between this Control your enthusiasm the footage and Catalan’s cell phone pinging a tower near Dodger Stadium at 10:12 p.m. — 31 minutes before Puebla’s murder, which was committed approximately 20 miles away — were enough to get Catalan’s charges dropped .

Where is Juan Catalan now

Catalan received a $320,000 settlement – and it became a major brake on his enthusiasm

With Juan Catalan indisputably innocent, he was released from prison after serving six months and received a $320,000 settlement of a lawsuit against the police force and the city of Los Angeles. According to the Long shot documentary,”Detective Martin Pinner was removed from work on homicide cases and his partner, Detective Juan Rodriguez, was transferred to an automobile fraud unit.” About that, Justice was served for Martha Puebla when the FBI convicted the four men responsible for her murderwhich was motivated by her witnessing their “gang mistakes”. They all accepted deals for life in prison without parole.

Being a free man, Catalão continued to enjoy a peaceful life with his family. His entire ordeal, unsurprisingly, turned him into a Control your enthusiasm fan, and he still maintains his passion for baseball. He and his attorney Todd Melnik also became incredibly close friends. In truth, Juan Catalão and Todd Melnik became folk heroes at Dodgers Stadium, with people constantly approaching them for autographs and photos. As Melnik says (via Los Angeles Magazine), “We go to Dodger games and people go crazy.“