"After five long years, Austin-based filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazi has completed her first feature documentary. Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four will make its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. The film tells the story of four Latina lesbians – Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez – who were sent to prison for more than a decade after being accused and then convicted of sexually assaulting two of Ramirez’s nieces in 1994. After one of the alleged victims recanted her testimony and new evidence was presented that proved their innocence, all four women were released from prison, although they have yet to be fully exonerated by the court system. Currently, Vasquez is out on parole and Ramirez, Mayhugh and Rivera are free on bond. In late February, Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas “Nico” LaHood told the San Antonio Express-News he didn’t “believe pursuing these cases would be in the interest of justice.” During an interview with the Current earlier this week, Esquenazi talked about what she hopes her finished film can ultimately do for the San Antonio Four and shared her theory on why the judicial system is having so much trouble labeling them “innocent.” She also talked about what it has been like as a filmmaker watching her project evolve over the last five years and the emotion she felt when she witnessed the women finally released from prison. Q: Senior District Judge Pat Priest ruled that the women deserve a new trial, but that “proof of actual innocence falls short of the mark.” With all the evidence presented, why do you think he could not exonerate them completely? (Can you explain some of your theories?) A: "I’m not a lawyer, so it’s hard for me to understand how you can present all of this evidence and still have questions about their innocence. The film really lays it all out. We never question their innocence. We always came from the perspective that these women are innocent, so let’s get them out of prison or let’s get them exonerated. I think, ultimately, when we get to the criminal court of appeals, I feel confident we can get those nine judges to see that."
http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/14/documentary-on-san-antonio-four-to-make-world-premiere-at-tribeca-friday
Homepage for "Southwest of Salem: The story of the San Antonio Four: (Quite spectacular: Must See! HL);
http://www.southwestofsalem.com/
Homepage for "Southwest of Salem: The story of the San Antonio Four: (Quite spectacular: Must See! HL);
http://www.southwestofsalem.com/
See Texas Monthly story at the link below on Mike Ware and Keith Hamilton - the lawyers who represented not only the San Antonio Four - but Fran and Dan Keller, also the subject of numerous posts on this Blog. "Ware, who
works out of Fort Worth, took on the the San Antonio Four case in 2011 and
brought in Hampton to represent Ramirez, who had been tried and convicted
separately from the three other women accused of sexually abusing Ramirez’s
niece. Hampton and Ware filed writs of habeas corpus for all four women, who,
in a similarity to the Keller case, were convicted of the crime after a medical
expert testified that a hymen scar indicated rape. The pediatrician who made
the original diagnosis in the trials acknowledged that she too had made a
mistake. The San Antonio DA agreed to release the women on bond, and they also
await final say-so on their writs."
Ware,
who works out of Fort Worth, took on the the San Antonio Four case in
2011 and brought in Hampton to represent Ramirez, who had been tried and
convicted separately from the three other women accused of sexually
abusing Ramirez’s niece. Hampton and Ware filed writs of habeas corpus
for all four women, who, in a similarity to the Keller case, were
convicted of the crime after a medical expert testified that a hymen
scar indicated rape. The pediatrician who made the original diagnosis in
the trials acknowledged that she too had made a mistake. The San
Antonio DA agreed to release the women on bond, and they also await
final say-so on their writs. - See more at:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/i-believe-its-a-heroic-calling/#sthash.vEwULo8T.dpuf
Ware,
who works out of Fort Worth, took on the the San Antonio Four case in
2011 and brought in Hampton to represent Ramirez, who had been tried and
convicted separately from the three other women accused of sexually
abusing Ramirez’s niece. Hampton and Ware filed writs of habeas corpus
for all four women, who, in a similarity to the Keller case, were
convicted of the crime after a medical expert testified that a hymen
scar indicated rape. The pediatrician who made the original diagnosis in
the trials acknowledged that she too had made a mistake. The San
Antonio DA agreed to release the women on bond, and they also await
final say-so on their writs. - See more at:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/i-believe-its-a-heroic-calling/#sthash.zzgjOOKJ.dpuf
Ware,
who works out of Fort Worth, took on the the San Antonio Four case in
2011 and brought in Hampton to represent Ramirez, who had been tried and
convicted separately from the three other women accused of sexually
abusing Ramirez’s niece. Hampton and Ware filed writs of habeas corpus
for all four women, who, in a similarity to the Keller case, were
convicted of the crime after a medical expert testified that a hymen
scar indicated rape. The pediatrician who made the original diagnosis in
the trials acknowledged that she too had made a mistake. The San
Antonio DA agreed to release the women on bond, and they also await
final say-so on their writs. - See more at:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/i-believe-its-a-heroic-calling/#sthash.zzgjOOKJ.dpuf
om/politics/i-believe-its-a-heroic-calling/See Guardian story at the link below:
