The Documentary Blog’s Sheffield Doc/Fest coverage comes to us thanks to our new UK correspondent Charlotte Cook.
Presumed Guilty is the new film from Geoffrey Smith who made last year’s outstanding documentary, The English Surgeon. This time around he’s sharing the director credit with lawyer Roberto Hernández who shot the majority of the footage.
Geoffrey’s role in this film was to shape and construct a feature documentary from over forty hours of courtroom footage provided by the legal team of Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete who had felt compelled to document a court case they were fighting in Mexico. The Mexico judicial system works on the basis that someone is guilty until proven innocent and so their prisons are crammed full of people who “might” be guilty. Whilst dipping in and out of incredible access within the prisons, the film centres around the case of José “Toño” Rodriguez, who has been falsely accused of murder and is facing a twenty year jail term.
Luckily the lawyers aren’t strangers to filmmaking having gained success with their previous short documentary The Tunnel, which provoked the release of an innocent man from prison, and so had the foresight to film the court case using a multiple camera setup. This, combined with Geoffrey’s skill at storytelling, creates a tense Law and Order style courtroom drama. As the case progresses the characters within the courthouse and the farcical nature of Mexico’s justice system are so extreme at times it gives the film a shocking level of the blackest comedy and the rollercoaster nature of the outcome of the case is so startling that were it a scripted drama, you wouldn’t believe it.
Presumed Guilty goes far beyond being a snap shot of the flaws of Mexico’s system or even a simple case of injustice but is a film that draws on the conventional structure of a courtroom drama to highlight a story that is so infuriating and emotional that you want to believe it’s not true.
For more information, visit the film’s official website at www.presumedguiltythemovie.com.
Oigan senores les tengo un caso mui grande importante y con muchisimas voolaciones iiii ncreibles . Violaciones a juesez de distrito y todo como si nada pasara . una juez jira una orden judical encontra de un padre de 2 menores de edad sin averigucion previa nada mas porke la mama de los menores tienen palancas y su papa la juez gira una orden sin omportar la edad de los ninos y solovle toma 2 dias para tener la rresolucion y sin importarle el bienestae de los mismos ocupamos de su ayuda esta onvolucrados 2 juezez un diputado federal un magistrado o 2 y varios mp 327 100 2420 y 001916 889 3952 luis rodriguez
I am a 16 year old student in Denmark. I was choked by the documentary.
Based on the documentary about the injust judicial system in Mexico I will write a project about what this type of system does to a society and its people. Today in Denmark and in most other parts of the world the judicial system works the opposite way. That is: “Any person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.”
Many years ago in Europe we practiced the same “guilty until proven innocent” justice. In Denmark we had common people blaming common people i.e. for witchcraft. First torturing them and then burning them on a bondfire. Sometimes even their children got tortured and burned with them. This created a fearful society. People lived in a “I do not dare to step anyone powerful on the toes” or “I have to watch my back” atmosphere. Everybody was affraid of everyone and no one could feel safe – even among family or friends. It was better “to accuse first” in stead of “being accused by others.” Because you could get away with accusing another person with wrong or little evidence, but rarely you could get away with defending yourself against a wrongful accusation…
1. Would anyone like to share their view on what you think the impact of the judicial system is on the society and its people in Mexico – or in general any society for that matter – of the judicial practice of having to prove your innocens.
2. Why is the judicial practise like that in Mexico today? (I know there is a new law from 2016)
3. Does this practise reduce crime or will it instigate crime?
I would especially like to hear from Mexican people but also from all other people in the world.
Thank you very much,
William Moeller
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