How Larry David Helped Save a Man From Death Row

Larry David — Seinfeld co-creator, Curb Your Enthusiasm star and, it turns out, unexpected lifesaver.

The comedian played a key role in helping an innocent man named Juan Catalan avoid death row, as chronicled in the 2017 Netflix documentary Long Shot.

Amid horrific tragedy, the story itself has a Curb-like twist. In May 2003, a 16-year-old girl named Martha Puebla was shot to death on her doorstep. Police zeroed in on 24-year-old Juan Catalan as a murder suspect. If convicted, he was set to face the death penalty.

Catalan had an alibi, though. He claimed that he was at a Dodgers game at the time of Puebla's death. The only problem? His defense attorney, Todd Melnik, couldn't track down footage of him at the stadium.

Then came a miracle in the form of Larry David. Melnik discovered that Curb Your Enthusiasm had been shooting an episode at Dodger Stadium during the exact game that Catalan attended. (Curb fans will remember it as the one where Larry picks up a sex worker so he can use the carpool lane.)

Melnik got in touch with HBO and was given permission to look through the footage. "Just hearing that, that he was going to go down there and see those outtakes, it lifted my spirits instantly," Catalan recalled in Long Shot.

His lawyer was welcomed into an editing bay where he went through the tapes, one by one. After some searching, he spotted Catalan holding hands with his daughter as they walked down the aisle. Mere seconds later, David walked by to wave to the crowd.

"[Melnik] literally sprung out of his chair," David recalled. "There he was. Pretty cool."

After some more investigative work, including tracking the radius of his cell phone at the time of the murder, Catalan was cleared of the crime. The FBI discovered that four men were responsible for Puebla's death, all of whom were retaliating after she witnessed their gang's wrongdoings and was cooperating with the police.

Catalan ended up receiving a $320,000 settlement in a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and the police force.

As for David? "Maybe every few years, someone will bring it up, and I'll tell the story; maybe I'll tell it at a party, how I helped a guy off for murder," he said with a smile. "Impress a date with it."