NEW RESOURCES: Documentary tells story of innocent man who spent 18 years on death row

In 1984, Juan Melendez was sent to Florida’s death row for the mur­der of Delbert Baker even though no phys­i­cal evi­dence linked him to the crime. In 2002, he was released with all charges vacat­ed after it was found that pros­e­cu­tors had with­held crit­i­cal evi­dence in the case. He became the 99^th per­son exon­er­at­ed in the United States since 1976, and the 20^th from Florida. As of today, 135 peo­ple have been exon­er­at­ed. Juan Melendez — 6446 is a doc­u­men­tary released as part of the HBO-spon­sored 10^th Annual New York International Latino Film Festival. Director Luis Rosario Albert tells Melendez’ sto­ry through his own words and the words of his fam­i­ly, friends and lawyers — the sto­ry of a migrant Puerto Rican farm work­er sent to death row for a crime he did­n’t com­mit. It also brings into play legal issues between the United States and Puerto Rico in appli­ca­tion of the death penal­ty. More infor­ma­tion, includ­ing the film’s trail­er, can be found here. The film will be screened on July 31^st at 2 pm at the Clearview Cinemas Chelsea, Screen 8, W 23^rd St. & 8^th Ave. in New York City.

(Source: Judi Caruso, Director, Juan Melendez Voices United for Justice, July 27, 2009). See also Innocence, Multi-media, and the Death Penalty in Puerto Rico.