10 TV Scenes That Led To Massive Lawsuits
5. An Extra At Dodger Stadium Was Cleared Of Murder (And Sued The LAPD) - Curb Your Enthusiasm
TV lawsuits really don't get much more incredible than this, though in this case a scene of TV ended up causing a lawsuit not against the network behind it, but the LAPD.
A season four episode of hit sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm later served as evidence which helped save a man from death row.
The 2004 episode "The Car Pool Lane" contained several scenes set in Dodger Stadium during the middle of a real baseball game, which was attended by 24-year-old Juan Catalan.
A few months later, Catalan was arrested and charged with the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla. The murder occurred the very same night that Catalan was at the baseball game, though his legal team ultimately failed to identify their client on any of the surveillance cameras around the stadium.
But Catalan remembered that a TV show had been filming around his section during the game, and so his lawyer contacted HBO in order to obtain the raw filmed footage from the game in the hope of finding Catalan.
As luck would have it, Catalan and his young daughter were easily identifiable in the tapes, effectively exonerating him and leading to his release.
This led to Catalan filing a lawsuit against the LAPD for for false imprisonment, misconduct, and defamation, resulting in him receiving a $320,000 settlement.
This stranger-than-fiction story was also the basis for a 2017 Netflix short documentary, Long Shot, which is absolutely worth your time.