In a documentary where a man, presumed guilty and sentenced to 20 years, is on trial, I began to question why Mexico's entire justice system isn't on trial. "In Mexico, you have to prove your innocence." It is not the other way around, and if Americans have one thing to be thankful for, it's the fact that here, we are innocent until proven guilty. Following the retrial of a man who seems to have no connection whatsoever to the homicide for which he was picked up off the street and convicted, we get a first hand, up close look into a system that can hardly be associated with justice.
Welcome to a world where 93% of inmates never saw a judge and were never shown an arrest warrant. 78% of these inmates are cared for and fed by their own families, but their wives, mothers, and sisters are molested by prison guards upon arrival. Understand that 95% of verdicts are convictions, and 92% of those are not based on any physical evidence. Imagine fighting this system, and imagine the odds of winning. Helping the case from Berkley, California, two lawyers with no previous film knowledge begin filming this documentary because they realize that public and media knowledge and attention might be the only thing powerful enough to save Toño, the man trying to prove his innocence.
Over 3 years of filming within the Mexican courts and prisons provides never before seen"”or imagined"”footage, capturing the injustices of this one man's trial. Police detectives, witnesses, and judges squirm as they realize that all they say is being caught on camera. I hate to think of how many others are stuck in the same situation without the ability to fight back. While I'm not sure that the actual filming is anything spectacular, the access these lawyers petitioned and waited for makes the shots worthwhile because they are the first of their kind. They do a great job giving the audience plenty of information to understand and follow the case without boring us with legal details or dragging the story out too long. By the end of the film, we are attached to Toño, his family, his story, and his case"”enough so that whatever the outcome, we are greatly affected.
