Man with TV show alibi wins settlement from L.A.

[meegbear]

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $320,000 to settle a lawsuit by a man who was cleared of murder when footage shot for the HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm" showed him at a Dodgers game when the crime occurred.

Juan Catalan had filed a police misconduct suit against the city after spending nearly five months in jail for a crime he did not commit — a point his lawyer proved after producing outtakes from the television show.

In the scene, which ended up on the cutting room floor, Catalan could be seen eating a hot dog in the background.

Catalan, 28, was arrested in the May 2003 murder of Martha Puebla, 16, outside her Sun Valley home, even though he told detectives that he was innocent and had been at a Dodgers game with his 6-year-old daughter at the time of the crime.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-alibi8mar08,0,6507588.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[petronius]

1. Cool - that's some pretty good lawyering... (nt)