Selfies are a great thing. They bring friends and family together, they make note of special occasions, and it’s fun to squeeze everyone together for a quick photo. They’re also very useful in proving someone’s innocence, as a Texas man and his family found out.
Victim says he stabbed an “X” on her chest
The alleged victim, who is unidentified because she was not charged with a crime, said someone broke into her apartment on Sept. 20, 2017, at 7:20 p.m. and attacked her with a box cutter. The suspect carved an “X” onto her chest. Christopher Precopia, was working at a lumber yard, when he was arrested in the crime, accused by an ex-girlfriend of an act which he knew he didn’t do.
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$150,000 bail posted
CJ Precopia was taken to Williamson County Jail, where his parents posted $150,000 bond. Then they waited months to find out whether Precopia would be found guilty of the charges.
Precopia faced 99 years in prison
The charge Precopia faced — first-degree felony burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit other crimes — carried with it a 99-year sentence in prison, if convicted. But CJ claimed he hadn’t spoken to the alleged victim, his ex-girlfriend, for two years. Precopia was confident he was innocent, and he had proof.
Selfie helped clear Precopia
A selfie his mother took, timestamped around the same time the incident happened, was enough to cast doubt and eventually clear Precopia of the charges.
Suspect was miles away during the attack
According to KVUE, Precopia was with his mom, Erin Precopia, at a Northwest Austin hotel, more than 60 miles away from the accuser’s home. She had the selfie to prove it. “I’m thinking, ‘This is awesome. By the grace of God, she said it happened on the day when I can say totally, 100 percent, where he was at,” Erin Precopia said, according to KVUE.
Texts, cell-tower data provided proof of innocence
In addition, ABC reports that text messages between Erin Precopia and CJ Precopia revealed their plans to carpool to the event. Even better, cell-tower data showed they were inside the hotel, and witnesses also confirmed CJ was there.
Charges dropped
Nine months after Precopia was arrested in the case, Bell County prosecutors dropped the charge.
Facebook helped save the day
“Thankfully, I do log on Facebook all the time, and I check in when I go places,” Erin says, according to Yahoo. “I’m ready to actually live my life, the way I want to, without having any kind of worry that this can come back and hurt me,” Precopia told KVUE.
Saved By Media
Being exonerated is a great feeling, especially when it could mean your life. While police will be without a suspect and need to get back to the search, the former suspect will be free.
Look no further than this doc on Netflix showing the man who was cleared by his appearance in the background of a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode during a Dodgers game.
Dodger Fan
You can actually see him during the game and during the shoot for the series on camera, proving that there was little proof he was actually connected to the crime he was arrested for:
The film covers the drive-by shooting of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, a witness in a gang-related murder case in which Catalan’s brother was a co-defendant. Catalan was arrested for Puebla’s death in August 2003, and he maintained his innocence, telling prosecutors that he had taken his 6-year-old daughter to the Dodgers game on the night of the murder.
Tough To Prove
Despite his claims, his innocence couldn’t be fully proven by what he had available according to MLB.com:
Though Catalan could produce ticket stubs and offered to take a lie-detector test, real proof that he was in attendance was unavailable. The FOX Sports TV feed and the Dodgers’ in-house video and security feeds did not include shots of his section with a high enough resolution to reveal him.
Pretty, Pretty Good
But then, HBO came into play and it turns out that their cameras were filming and gave the break Catalan’s defense needed:
But the key to the case was when Catalan remembered someone in his section making mention that “Super Dave Osborne” — otherwise known as actor and comedian Bob Einstein, who plays Marty Funkhouser on “Curb” — was in attendance. From that small clue, Melnik got the help of the Dodgers’ media relations department to find the production company that filmed at Dodger Stadium that day. A phone number was listed in the log. Melnik called it, and the person on the other end answered, “HBO.”
Freedom
This was enough to give him his freedom and prove his claims that he was at the game:
“Once your freedom gets taken away,” Catalan said, “you really recognize how lucky we are to be American citizens.”
