Two Young Mexican Lawyers Defend Wrongly Accused Rapper in Presumed Guilty Screening at the SD Public Library

The San Diego Public Library, in partnership with Media Arts Center San Diego and PBS’ Point-of-View (POV) series, presents a preview film screening of Presumed Guilty by filmmakers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete, on Monday, July 12, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the 3rd floor auditorium of the Central Library, located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego. This free event is open to the public. Professor Justin Brooks will be on hand to facilitate questions and answers after the film.

Imagine being picked up off the street, told you have committed a murder you know nothing about and then finding yourself sentenced to 20 years in jail. In December 2005, this happened to Toño Zúñiga in Mexico City and, like thousands of other innocent people, he was wrongfully imprisoned. Presumed Guilty is a seat-of-your-pants telling of one miscarriage of justice and what it took to fix it. It is also a cautionary tale about what can happen when police cross the line in the name of fighting crime, when power is exercised in the shadows and when the presumption of guilt is placed on the accused rather than the accuser.

Professor Brooks is the director of California Western School of Law’s California Innocence Project, which works to free wrongfully convicted inmates by reviewing more than 1,000 claims of innocence each year. He also directs the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy to improve the quality of criminal defense representation.

Since 1988, PBS’ “POV” series has brought the best of independent documentaries to a national audience, featuring the work of America’s most innovative documentary filmmakers to build new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social issues.

Learn about other events at the San Diego Public Library’s Central Library and 35 branches, find links to numerous additional resources, or search for materials in the Library’s catalog online.