6 TV Shows With Crazy Real-Life Repercussions
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm Saved An Innocent Man From The Death Penalty
In 2003, Juan Catalan spent five and a half months in jail for a murder he didn't commit. He protested his innocence, insisting that he was at an LA Dodgers game when the fatal shooting in question took place, but prosecutors didn't buy his story and were ready to push for the death penalty.
Curb Your Enthusiasm ended up being Catalan's saviour and alibi after he recalled seeing television cameras and production crew at the stadium. When his lawyer followed up this lead, it turned out that Larry David was shooting season four episode The Carpool Lane on location at the time.
The suspect's defence team combed through the outtakes of the episode and there was Catalan in the background of one of the shots. The footage, in conjunction with data from a nearby cellphone tower, proved the man was 20 miles away from the scene of the crime when it happened.
Catalan's story of how Curb Your Enthusiasm saved him from the death penalty was later turned into a documentary called Long Shot, which was released on Netflix earlier this year.