An unbelievable coincidence has saved the life of Juan Catalan and shocked the internet…
“It really is unbelievable good luck,” one person commented.
Scroll down for the full story.
Now, although abolished in many countries, the death penalty is still retained in some parts of the world.
These countries include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and of course, the United States of America.
The death penalty has been a part of the U.S. justice system for centuries…
And the penalty, which is often referred to as capital punishment, has been in action since approximately 1608… Yep, it’s really that old.
But it’s not currently legal in every state.
And as the years have gone on, it’s become more and more of a controversial and taboo subject.
Many U.S. states have now abolished the death penalty for a number of reasons…
Including the risk factors of executing an innocent person, the fact it doesn’t prevent future crimes, and the fact that it is both discriminatory and can be used politically, as per Amnesty.
Organizations such as Amnesty have been fighting for decades to have the death penalty abolished entirely and they have been trying to expose and hold to account governments that continue to use the punishment.
Many find the death penalty totally barbaric.
When questioned, it’s difficult to justify the state killing its citizens.
Campaigners argued that many of those executed over the last few years were killed despite suffering from serious mental and physical illnesses…
Which should have rendered the death penalty an unconstitutional punishment.
And some states have made huge progress in this field.
History was made by Virginia being the first-ever southern state to abolish the death penalty. Other states which have abolished capital punishment include Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Washington.
Virginia is now the twenty-third state to abolish the death penalty.
And many are hoping for other Southern states to follow suit.
But one man has been saved from execution by an unbelievable coincidence.
Juan Catalan was charged with the murder of sixteen-year-old Martha Puebla.
She was shot outside her house back in 2003.
And Catalan was saved from execution thanks to a strange source.
Curb Your Enthusiasm!
Amazingly, the Larry David sitcom managed to prove Catalan was innocent.
Catalan was imprisoned for 6 months and could have gotten the death penalty if he’d been found guilty.
However, he had a solid alibi.
He claimed he was at a Dodgers football game — but his lawyers could not find any proof to substantiate this.
Until they examined the background of a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode.
Amazingly, Catalan was spotted in the background of one of the unaired scenes filmed at the game!
The state ultimately had to drop the charges and award him a settlement of $320,000.
The case also became the subject of a Netflix true-crime documentary The Long Shot.
You can watch the trailer here.