Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20160208

Thousands of dollars trying to free him . This could be my son. Your son. It could be you. It could be me. Reporter was daniel innocent . Daniel villegas is a convicted murderer. Reporter could this survivor solve the mystery . I cant let this happen. I got to do something. Reporter everyone told him he was crazy. The case a long shot. 0 to 5 chance. Reporter and there was always the chance he was wrong. Everybody was holding their breath. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with the confession. It was good friday night, late, too late. Too dark. Too deep into gang territory in the border town of el paso, texas. The boys, teenagers, hurried down a side street toward home. Going to the party had been a bad idea. I was like, weve got to get home. And then, there it was out of nowhere. The car. The screaming. A sudden burst of gunfire. Like living a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Im going to wake up soon. Reporter in a bad neighborhood in a town in west texas, two innocent lives were snuffed in one violent moment and a strange story went into deep hibernation as much in the grave as those poor boys. For 12 long years. And then one day in 2005, in sunny el paso a place where a person could look ahead, build a business, fall in love a man walked into a bank and, that old story began its unlikely resurrection. You were a teller . I was a bank teller, yes. Reporter her name was lucy and for some time, as she couldnt help but notice, a particular customer turned up at almost all the teller windows except hers. He was a very, very attractive man. We knew he had a business, so he was in there frequently. Reporter and then one february morning in 2005 there he was. Standing in front of her. He just happened to be at my window. And i did have pictures in our teller windows of me and the girls. And i remember him asking, oh, those are your daughters . Reporter his name, she learned, was john mimbela, single, divorced father of two and one of el pasos most successful and respected Building Contractors. And just making conversation, i asked her, wheres the dad . And shes like im not married, and the dads not involved. Well, what did you think . I said, well, theres my chance. Reporter hed noticed her all along of course. And that morning, finally, he plucked up the courage and i just took a chance and i asked her out. And she accepted. And right off the bat we fell in love. And that changed everything. We ended up marrying. [ applause ] reporter it was a Second Chance for both of them. But as we all know, Second Chances, wonderful as they are, generally come with baggage. Complications. She came with other people. Correct. I told her i know im not just marrying you and i will take the responsibility for your daughters. Reporter oh, but thats not the complication we had in mind. Lucy came with Something Else, too. Though the father of her daughters had long ago left for good, lucy remained very close to the mans family, which included a young man named Daniel Villegas. Who was in prison. For murder. So thats curious. This is a family youd wanna avoid, youd think. At first i kinda had my doubts. Well, if hes in prison, its probably because hes guilty. But they would always say he was innocent. Reporter mind you, john was busy running his Construction Company, didnt think much about the Daniel Villegas story. How he was locked up for life. How appeal after appeal had been turned down. I would give him details on daniel. Being convicted, i just kind of knew that they didnt have good representation and he lost his case, and john was like, really . Wow. Like, that happens. Reporter then one night, lucy and john stopped by daniels parents house. By then daniel had been in prison for more than 10 years. We walk into the house and its kinda dark. I mean, its in the evening and theyre just sitting there. Crying. I mean, cries of desperation. Reporter daniels parents had been trying to find some legal group or agency that would attempt, at least, to prove their son was innocent. And theyd just received their final rejection. Daniels sister michelle was there, too. And that was our last hope. It just seemed there was nothing we could do. Reporter these are his parents chano and yolanda. And i fell apart. I was just like, what did i do to my baby . I thought i was gonna protect him and i did nothing in the slightest. So they were telling you, just forget it. No. Yes. Yeah. Yes. But daniels appeals had failed. There didnt seem to be any way out. But then there, in the midst of all that gloom, john mimbela said something naive. Foolish, perhaps. I felt very, very bad for that family at that moment, so i told them, let me take the information they just returned from you and let me look at it and let me see what i can do, but please stop crying, and dont worry. And we were all like, well, yeah. Yes. Of course. Please. Reporter but really what could he do . He didnt have a clue about the case that put daniel in prison in the first place. Or about the workings of the law. Oh, these sudden impulses. If john mimbela had known what was coming what it would do to him and everybody else would he have been a little more prudent . Would he have kept his mouth shut . His family insists hes innocent even though a jury found him guilty. If it wasnt daniel, who was it . When we come back here you have this person who killed these two boys and was out there with a weapon. Who else could this person kill . And john mimbela takes on the biggest challenge of his life. I said wow, hes serious. burke at farmers, weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a stag pool party. party music splashing destruction splashing destruction burke and we covered it, october twentyseventh, 2014. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum it can happen anytime to anyone. Stress sweat is different than ordinary sweat, it smells worse. Get 4 times the protection against stress sweat. With secret clinical strength invisible solid and clear gel. If you could see your cough, youd see just how far it can spread. Robitussin dm max soothes your throat and delivers fast, powerful cough relief. Robitussin dm max. Because its never just a cough. Sfx knocks on door. Oh my gosh, stephanie were, honey . So goth. Im dying my hair, mom. Hair dye . Honey. Its just purple. Teenage daughter . Get scrubbing bubbles. Kill 99. 9 of germs and destroy grime. With scrubbing bubbles for 100 problem solved. Ba da ba ba ba reporter he was a Building Contractor by trade, knew nothing about the law and even less about a convicted killer named Daniel Villegas. But now here was john mimbela, a man far more comfortable with blueprints than legal briefs, poring through the massive case file of a 12yearold double murder, trying to make sense of all the intricate details of the case. It was trial transcripts, it was some Police Reports. Reporter who knew there would be so much . But, a promise is a promise. So mimbela treated the task a little like a second job. By day, he ran his company. By night he played amateur detective. A lot of the stuff was incomplete. But i read it over and over. Reporter this went on for weeks. Lucy barely saw him. He would not drop it. As soon as he got home from work, eat dinner and start reading. And i said, wow, hes serious. [ laughter ] reporter it was like opening a time capsule, in a way. Out of the night, a marooncolored car, like this one, rolled up beside them. But whatever model the car was, it was trouble. And my heart started racing. Oh, man, were going to get into an altercation. So the car was doing this kind of cat and mouse. It would back up, and it would take off a little further, then back up, and then just stopped. The adrenaline was pumping, like weve got to get home. Then relieved, the car left. The boys kept walking. But 15 minutes later and several blocks away, the car appeared again, slowed to a crawl, turned off its lights, and stopped. Oh, guys, lets please just go. Lets go. Lets go. As jess told the police back then, the boys didnt listen. Instead, his friends, mando lazo and bobby england, approached the car, started yelling. Before you know it, i started hearing gunshots. I could swear that i saw a light flash toward me and hit the fence. And it was tottottot. Reporter the same car that had bothered you before . Yeah. All i kept thinking was i was to go home. I was to be in a safe place. He and his other friend ran, ran for their lives. Didnt look back. But when bobby and mondo failed to turn up behind them, the two went back to find them. I could already see flashing lights, red and blue. I knew something was wrong. It was. Jesses best friends were dead. It was like living a nightmare. Im going to wake up soon. Im going wake up now. And the more i tried, you know, didnt wake up. The murder was big news in el paso. Mimbela dug up dozens of newspaper clippings reporting on what looked at first like a gang shooting. Yet, the victims were not gang bangers, just innocent kids caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tv reporter maria garcia has been covering the case for years. People were on edge about it because here you had this person who killed these two boys for no good reason and was out there with a weapon. And if he killed armando and robert who were popular, good kids, who else could this person kill . So it was an alarming case. Alarming and puzzling. Who would want to kill these kids, and why . Mimbella looked up their backgrounds, their personal stories. Bobby was from a military family, by all accounts a kind and friendly young man. Mondo was extremely popular, fun loving, and cared deeply about his friends. He was always watching out for me. He was always very protective of me. I would feel his hand on me. I would still feel that warm touch. I hope i never lose that feeling. And i could still remember him. Reporter mando and bobbys murder got a lot of attention from the cops. But ten days passed. No arrests. And then a break a tip. Someone in the neighborhood was boasting that he blew away mando and bobby with a shotgun. The boaster . The young man hed accepted as a kind of unofficial brotherinlaw Daniel Villegas. Coming up, two very different sides of daniel emerged. It made it difficult to believe because he confessed. I didnt believe it. He was a kid. Just always having fun. When dateline continues. Wassup . Im hannibal im gonna use samsung pay to get a katzs deli pastrami sandwich. katzs employees hey hey whats up . Hey can i pay with my phone . You mean like apple pay . We dont got that. No like samsung pay. Kind of works everywhere. Even on this janky old thing. He wants to pay with his phone. Whadda ya want hannibal . I want to pay with my phone. Dont look at the cameras mike. You ready . It doesnt work. Watch me. Boom oh samsung pay is here and pretty much everywhere else. Working on my feet all day gave min my knees. But now, i step on this machine and get my number which matches my dr. Scholls custom fit orthotic inserts. Now i get immediate relief from my foot pain. My knee pain. Find a machine at drscholls. Com dont go it alone. S . echo sfx ding this president s day event sears experts will help you save 40 or more on kenmore hot buys. 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And he was already a very busy man. But his lucy was so determined that the Daniel Villegas she knew was no murderer. I didnt believe it. I mean, he was a kid, just always having fun. Reporter did he seem like the sort of person who was capable of that . No. Not at all. He was a clown. He liked to joke around a lot. Just a kindhearted guy. Reporter mind you, kindhearted or not, daniel wasnt a choir boy. He belonged to a gang, had a rap sheet for a few misdemeanors. He had been expelled from school. He liked to party maybe too much. But boast about murder . That sounded to mimbela like more than a party prank. But daniels parents said thats just how daniel was immature, a jokester, they said, trying to navigate life in a dangerous neighborhood. And i think he was tryin to be tough, because we were in a tough area. Theres a lot of gangs so if he figured if they feared him, then hed have a better chance of survival. Reporter but if thats what it was, he figured wrong. Because it certainly caught the attention of detectives at the El Paso Police department, so not surprising, late one night, they showed up at the villegas front door and took 16yearold daniel downtown for questioning. My mom kept telling him not to say anything, that she would get him a lawyer in the morning. But he didnt make it till the morning. Reporter no, he didnt. Sometime before the morning came, daniel confessed that he killed those two boys. And there, all these years later, mimbela saw what was daniels indelible signature. He signed his own statement, swearing it was true. Thats kind of what made it hard for me to understand that daniel might be innocent, because he confessed. Reporter that signed confession got daniel charged with capital murder. Youre going to have to sort through all of the evidence, through all of the lies. Daniels defense attorney argued that his confession was coerced, that he had an alibi. He was baby sitting and watching a movie with friends at this apartment. In the end, 11 jurors voted to convict. But one held out for acquittal. A hung jury. A relief for Daniels Family who despite his confession still insisted he was innocent. Daniel had just become a father. Seemed to think he might be able to stay with his infant daughter. But Jesse Hernandez, a witness for the prosecution, was very unhappy with that hung jury. And i remember the d. A. Said, dont worry, were going keep pushing, and were going to get him. And sure enough, the d. A. Tried daniel again. The family was out of money, so the Court Appointed an attorney who had very little time to prepare for trial. He called one witness to the stand. Daniels prior defense attorney called 18 witnesses. And he was found guilty in a hurry. Yes. In 1995, he was sentenced to life in prison. He was just 18yearsold. It was solved. The murderer went to prison. The two victims got their justice. Case closed. Case closed for everyone except daniel and his family. To them, the verdict was a complete shock. It was a nightmare to see his face. Remember, daniel bragged to his friends that he did it. Confessed to the cops that he did it. Mirbela read that, the Police Reports, trial, appeal, saute were all denied. And yet, to this laymans eye at least something seemed to be missing. It just didnt add up. Im like, my god, how did they convict this kid without any physical evidence whatsoever . Reporter but mimbela still couldnt answer that one central question why would anyone confess to a murder he didnt commit . Coming up daniel speaks out. Did he confess or did he just give in . He says you dont make a statement. He says im going to make sure you get the electric chair and im going to fry your. Ave crohns disease, reporter of the thousands of pieces of paper john mimbella pored through, there was one that puzzled him more than any other daniels confession, signed at the bottom. Which meant that daniel approved of what was written there, it was his ticket to a life term in prison. And yet this confession did not match anything of what the Police Report said. Reporter mimbela looked again and again. Maybe he was mistaken. But no, daniel said the color of the car was white, but he was wrong. According to a surviving eyewitness. It was maroon. The way he described the sequence of shots also differed wildly from what the neighbor told 911. He also said he was accompanied by a driver and passenger who, it turned out were nowhere near the crime that night. Very strange. Though, of course, there was probably some explanation. It didnt mean daniel was innocent. So mimbela wrote him a letter. Trying to get a feel for if he was innocent or not. But the main thing that i wanted to let him know is that being a catholic i wanted to save him, if in fact he was guilty. Its always about helping people and helping others. Reporter this is where the letter went the french robertson unit. A prison in abilene, 450 miles from el paso. And heres the man he sent it to. I thought, you know, we had the best system in the world. Innocent people just dont go to jail in america. Reporter this is Daniel Villegas. By the time john wrote his letter, a veteran of the texas prison system. Daniel was 29 then. Wouldnt even be eligible for parole until he was in his 50s. He kept thinking of his daughter growing up without a father. I just started crying and crying. Reporter in between the decision to take his own life and the final act, daniel, for the first time in years, said a little prayer. You know what, god, man, i cant deal with this. Im not asking you to let me out. But if you are, give me some type of sunshine im coming home. The next day he got my letter. Reporter coincidence, of course, what else could it be . But daniel decided maybe hope was worth having after all. And when mimbela went to see him in prison, what he heard from daniel was far different from anything hed read in the police teens. So, he starts telling me, look out, you little punk, you know what im saying . I know you did this. He kind of slap me in the back of the head anytime, you know . Do you hear me punk . Do you hear me . Reporter then detective marquez offered him a deal, said daniel cop to the crime and go to juvie instead of prison. He said, if you dont make a statement, he said, im gonna make sure you get the electric chair and im gonna fry your ass. If you confess to committing a murder, meaning that you would get a lighter sentence. But if you didnt confess, he would make sure you got the Death Penalty . Yeah. And he was gonna pull the switch on it. I was willing to do Anything Possible just to get away from him so, i said, you know, okay, ill make a statement. Reporter that, said daniel, was after four hours in custody frightened and exhausted. And you said yes to everything . Yeah. But you didnt think when you said those things, this means im gonna be in prison for the rest of my life . No. I didnt even think none of that. Come on . Really . Yeah. H. Yeah. Youre not even thinkin about the future. The futu youre just thinkin about the. Getting out of there. Exactly. Reporter detective marquez, who has since retired, declined our request for an interview, as did the El Paso Police department. But the d. A. s office said marquez was never alone with daniel and even if he was, he wouldnt have had the time to do what daniel said he did. Id he d. Assistant d. A. John williams, s who helped prosecute daniel in the first trial, said the th confession looked legitimate. It. Thats the case thats s presented and thats what you go for. For. And i think the police, they get a confession, they mark it off as a solved crime. Crime. s give it to the d. A. s offic office and kind of push it off on the prosecution. Cution. Now its your turn. Exactly. Actly. Reporter but by the time t mimbela drove home from his om prison visit he was convinced d daniel was telling him the da truth. Truth. It was the confession that was a lie. E. Lie. He seemed like a very nice, naive, young kid. Young kid. I could sense that theres no way he couldve really committed this crime. Crime. Well, you know, everybody in prison says, im innocent. Nn but the vast majority of them o are not. Are not. How were you so sure it was a false confession . Fession . I did a lot of research on c false confessions. S. And that confession that daniel gave, and i read, fit exactly f what these researchers say false confessions are. Ns are. All the classic symptoms were there. Th they were. Y were. Reporter but with daniels appeals already exhausted, what could he do . He do . Mimbela needed help. D help. No idea then that someone who h did help convict daniel had a story to tell. To tell. Mimbela just needed to find himi coming up ing up he was almost shocked by the killer. Killer. How could detectives think he h was the killer . The killer . Even stranger, he almost r, he. Onfessed. You know what, theyre going to fry you to fry you. Theyre going to fry you . Yeah. Ou yeah. Sound familiar . Amiliar . When dateline continues. Hey this is lloyd. To prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. Hes agreed to give it up. Ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. Well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. Yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so. More pills. Yep. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain. I want my aleve. Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. Plumpify your lashes with new plumpify mascara a ginormous lash lifting brush boosts lashes to 50 times the volume and lifts lashes up up and away new plumpify mascara from easy breezy beautiful covergirl tonight at 11 take live pic the game is over but now the real trick playbegin. Hofans aro manuever around traffic leaving levis stadium. Vo plus super security. Militaryanks and poli everywhere around levi stadium. The impact it had on nearby businesses. Cu and fans soaking the sun duri todays game. But will the warm weather stick around . Your complete forecast and more cing up night a11. Reporter el paso, 2007. The mimbela Construction Company struggled like most. But for all that worry, john mimbela was ever more focused on one major project Daniel Villegas. I had a few people criticize why i was tryin to help a killer get outta jail. But i just felt it. The more i dug into his case, the stronger it got. Reporter he had no idea. Not a clue what he was getting into the legal learning curve. The hurdles, the time. The expense. The system. The whole impossible process. He might have stopped right there, had he known. Instead, convinced that daniel was innocent, mimbela decided the thing he should do was take what he learned to the man who put daniel in prison back in the 90s d. A. Jaime esparza. Esparzas view then, of course, was that daniel was a cold blooded killer. I think there is enough believable and Persuasive Evidence in the case. Reporter and there was no reason to think hed changed his nevertheless mimbela arranged a meeting. Well, everybody thought i was crazy. They said, john, hes the guy that convicted daniel, why would you go talk to him . Good question. And im like, he needs to know the truth. Reporter mimbela marched into the d. A. s office confident that esparza would see the light, correct his mistake and free daniel john mimbela. I told him, from what ive investigated, daniels confession was coerced. Youve got the wrong guy. And . And he tells me, well, john i cant do anything about it. You have to initiate it. Get yourself a good appeals lawyer. Still, he took the tip and hired a lawyer who said you have zero to slim chance of getting this kid off. What was it like to hear that . My heart sank. Im like, but hes innocent. And hes like, doesnt matter, john. The system doesnt care. Its about winning and losing. Reporter the attorney told mimbela there was really only one thing he could do, file a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus a lastditch sort of appeal the thing you try when all else has failed, essentially a claim that daniel had been falsely and unlawfully imprisoned. Its gonna cost you about 20,000. Wow. But i can tell you that these things take up to 10 years and theres no guarantee. They rarely succeed, in fact. They rarely succeed. Reporter he wrote the check, but the writ would take months to prepare. And mimbela was not particularly good at waiting around. He spent a couple of weeks reviewing the file then there was no weapon, no car, no identification, no nothing except a confession. So bonilla and mimbela started their own investigation. They fanned out from the crime scene workersed over the Police Reports, dug for new clues, and theres not one single thing that i would say, yeah, this guy did it. Theres not one piece of evidence. They also tracked down witnesses and found him. Jesse hernandez, one of the teens who survived the shooting and testified against daniel. When they found him, jesse was divorced, reclusive, with a bad case of survivors guilt. It was he who persuaded his friends to go out that night. And 15 years later, he was still haunted by it. My friends would still be here today. It wouldnt have happened. It was late at night when mimbela and bonilla came to call. I opened the door and said, yes, can i help you . Like, Jesse Hernandez . Like, yes . We identify ourselves. Were here wanting some information on the murder of armando and robert. I said, murder . Im im sorry, you got the wrong guy. I dont know anything about no murder. Jesse said he had no idea what they were talking about. Then, mimbela explained how he believed daniel had been wrongly convicted for killing his friends. Hes like, well, how did they come to daniel . I go, a confession. A confession that we believe was false, coerced. He turned white. Why. Why did he turn pale . Because of what happened to him. Soon after the murder, said jesse, he was called to Police Headquarters for an interview. There he said that same detective told him to write down what he remembered about the shooting. Jesse did. And he says, you know what, this is [ bleep ]. You know and i know that you did it. Im like, how could you be saying that . Didnt do anything. Yes, you did. Thats not true. These are my friends. I love my friends. He said, well, you know what, youre going to have explain that to the judge. Theyre going to fry you. I just i couldnt stop crying. Marcus, he said, had him convinced he had a blackout and killed his own friends. He came close to a confession, he said, but jesses mother found out what happened and called the cops, furious about what the detective had done to her son. And jesse was not questioned by marcus anymore and was never charged with anything. Now, all these years later, jesse looked to the copy of daniels confession that mimbela had given him. I started reading it, and i was like, hold on, thats not what happened. Jesse said he remembered vividly the color of the killers car. The direction it was driving, the sequence of the shots. Daniels confession was wrong on all of them. Whats more, neither the car the killer drove nor the murder weapon was ever found. And no physical evidence of any kind implicated daniel. How did they convict daniel . I kept thinking, how could they do this to him . He was like me. He just wanted out. He just wanted to go home. Im pretty sure he did signed, did whatever they wanted. I have to do something. So he called john mimbela. I said, john, its going to be hard for me, but ill do what i can. With jesse on board, mimbela went looking for more legal muscle to help further daniels cause. In 2010, he contacted the Northwestern University school of law center on wrongful convictions of youth which specializes in cases involving false confessions by teenagers. Attorney josh tepper was codirector then. We said, okay, well take a look at it. As soon as we did, we were hooked. John was right, we had to be involved. And in fact, northwestern has reviewed hundreds of cases like daniel. Kids who claim they signed their lives away under pressure. It doesnt take much to for a young person to cave and actually admit to something that they didnt do under that type of pressure. Thats the only way you get out of this room is tell us what we want to hear. Exactly. Northwesterns endorsement added a whole new level of legitimacy to the case and some national attention, too. But mimbela by now, contractor during the daytime and legal scholar at night, hoped that it might encourage the d. A. To support daniels case. And also persuade the judge to grant daniels writ of habeas corpus and order a special hearing called an evidentiary hearing. Which n which all the evidence could be presented . I had been told that the evidentiary hearings are very rare. That was about the only shot daniel had at freedom. Mimbela knew before the judge made his decision, he would hear from the other pig player in the case. D. A. Esparza. Remember three years earlier, he turned mimbela away. But now mimbela was convinced that with all the new evidence, esparza would be persuaded. They waited weeks, months. Then several days before christmas, the d. A. s office announced it had reviewed the request and given the judge its recommendation. And we get the response from the d. A. Asking the judge not to give us an evidentiary hearing. It looked like he just put the bullet your possibilities. Thats it. Hope is a dangerous thing in prison, as daniel knew. And mimbela was quickly learning. There were times when he started to give up hope, and i would try and encourage him as much as i could. Got to have faith. Got to have faith. We try. Its hard, i know. Is going to work out okay. I told him, daniel im never going to stop fighting for you. So dont give up because im not giving up. Tilting at windmills . Quite probably. Still, mimbela prepared for a fight. And naturally went looking for the fastest gun in town. Somebody who could navigate the system and give daniel a fighting chance. Good luck with that. Coming up an old lead the Police Department never really followed those leads thoroughly. Offers new hope. I really saw injustice. 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Honey, he didnt say that dont fight your instincts with each for 150 calories or less, try our lemon bars, brownies, and cheesecakes. Fiber one. Lips appear to age faster than no worries. Now, theres new chapstick® total hydration. Its 100 natural, age defying formula is clinically proven to provide healthier, more youthful looking lips. Chapstick® put your lips first® reporter the Holiday Season of 2010 was not an especially joyous time for john mimbela. The d. A. , to his utter surprise, had recommended daniel not get a new hearing. So now mimbella braced himself for judge sam medranos final decision. And with christmas approaching, he went shopping not for gifts, but for a tough courtroom lawyer, just in case that long shot came in on that habeas corpus writ and daniel did get his day in front of a judge. I asked around and said, who is the best lawyer for daniel . Everyone i asked said, joe spencer. If youre in trouble, real reporter so mimbela set up a meeting, made his pitch. He tells me the story about daniel. I go, he had two trials . He goes, yeah. cause he confessed. He goes, yes. Double homicide. Yes. Hes already exhausted his appeals. He goes yes. I go, what do you wanted . Reporter spencer had seen a lot of cases in his day, gotten plenty of people off. But this case . Wasnt just a long shot. It was a surefire loser. You dont understand, john. This is texas. In texas i give you about a zero to five percent chance of being successful, closer to zero than to five. Im telling you that i dont think that we can win this case. Reporter nevertheless, he took the file and read through it front to back. Really saw an injustice. I really saw a wrong that needed to be righted. And i just want to be so much a part of it. Reporter for starters, spencer focused on the man who took daniels confession. Detective alfonso marquez, whose investigation, spencer thought, was inadequate at best. The physical evidence and forensic evidence did not the eyewitness testimony did not match and contradicted daniels confession. Reporter well, surely if a Statement Like that is made and then its compared to the facts, they throw out the statement. Reporter Something Else in the statement caught his eye. The two brother. Javier now dead and his brother, rudy. Both had been cleared by the cops. This was weird. The flores brothers were known gang members. And according to the murder victims friends, rudy had a particular dislike for mando lazo. And two weeks before the shooting rudy flores, according to what we know from police documents, had said he was going to kill armando and had threatened whim that. And police had investigated those claims. Reporter that was before the shooting. Before the shooting, yes. Reporter after the shooting . When questioned by police, rudy flores admitted to being in the vicinity of the shooting at the time of the shooting. But from what we can see, the Police Department never really followed those leads thoroughly. They did not even look at rudy floress statement that he puts himself at the scene of the crime. If they just looked at that they wouldve seen theres something wrong here. I think the detectives developed tunnel vision. Once they got daniel to confess, they were oblivious to everything else. Sitting in the cell with his highpowered legal team behind his case, daniel allowed himself to see possibility. Started having more and more and more help. Miracles do happen nowadays. I hope im a miracle story. His parents even had his room ready, hoping after a decade and a half behind bars hed finally be coming home thanks to mimbela. I just remember thinking, thank you, god, ive got someone who listened. At least someone was trying. Privately, john mimbela knew there was no hope to change esparzas mind. Was made up. Thats when he got an idea. [ honking ] at inyourface kind of crazy idea. Coming up, daniel gets a Second Chance at justice. Face to face with the detective who he said threatened to put him in the electric chair and fry him himself. Take one of those pillows and take a big smell. They smell really fresh what if we told you we washed these sheets 7 days ago. Really . No way downy . Downy fabric conditioner give us a week, and well change your bed forever. Want more freshness . Add new downy fresh protect. Ba da ba ba ba theres no one ishare with. No one id rather have dinner and a movie with. No one id rather lean on. Being in love is an amazing thing. Being in love with your best friend. Is everything. Introducing the ever us twostone ring. One diamond for your best friend. One for your true love. For the one woman in your life whos both. Ever us. New this valentines day at jared, kay and zales. Reporter it was subtle at first. Just a billboard or two around town, but then more popped up all over el paso. Including ones that moved. Soon there were demonstrations right outside da Jaime Esparzas window, demanding justice for Daniel Villegas. All of it organized by john mimbela. I figured the best thing i can do is just try to bring awareness that this is wrong. Maybe we can change things. He believes in this cause with all his heart. And hes gone through Great Lengths to try to get other people to believe. Reporter and mimbela took up the cause like a marching band. Full force. He spent a lot of money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has added a sense of credibility, of legitimacy. I think people started to pay attention. Reporter d. A. Jaime esparza was paying attention, too. Well aware of mimbelas Street Campaign and how it was helping shape public opinion. I think hes taken it, in some way, personally. Because this was a case that was important to him. That this is an affront to justice. Reporter every time we come to the el paso courthouse and try to talk to d. A. Jaime esparza, he has shut us down. No interview. No comment. Has told us that he is ethically prevented from doing so. And so weve had to parse together the d. A. s point of view based on his Court Filings and what has leaked out to other reporters along the way. Which is that d. A. Esparza is still convinced daniel is a killer. And he was not about to let him get a shot at a third trial especially since he was convicted fair and square in esparzas view years ago. This a rare Public Comment for local tv. I have to believe in the evidence. I would have never asked that jury to convict if i thought that i had doubts. I would have never asked them to do that. Reporter at least one of the victims families agreed and supported the d. A. s position but it was the judge who would have the final say. Judge sam medrano. Who noted carefully the d. A. s objection spent months reviewing the file and finally decided. Yes. Despite the d. A. s opposition, he granted daniels writ of habeas corpus and ordered a hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to warrant a new trial. So we knew we had to get this hearing if we had a chance of freeing daniel. And we got it. Reporter there would be no jury at this hearing; the judge alone would hear witnesses and then decide whether or not to recommend to the texas court of criminal appeals that daniel get a new trial. Hope started to build. But we all still knew it was an uphill battle. This was the last chance. Reporter a few weeks before the hearing daniel headed west on a prisoner transport bus to el paso. He was in high spirits. It was the first time hed been to his hometown in over 15 years. We met with him shortly after he arrived at his New Residence the county jail. It feels good. Finally seeing the city again, after so many years. Reporter youre still hoping that a court will take a decision that courts very rarely take so you may not get out. Yeah. Reporter you faced up to that . Yeah. I faced up to that. Too much has happened. Too many pieces have been falling together, too many miracles have been happening. That you never wouldve thought would happen are happening. Then on a hot day in june, 2011, in judge medranos packed court room, filled mostly with daniel supporters we saw no one from the victims families. All rise. The hearing that daniel had waited so long for finally began. Unlike a regular trial, the burden of proof was on the defense, which would make the case that daniel was coerced into a confession and railroaded into a wrongful conviction. The odds were completely against daniel. And here he was, back in el paso, back in the courthouse where he was convicted as a 16 year old. Reporter but this time District Attorney Jaime Esparza wasnt at the prosecution table. In his place assistant d. A. John briggs a tough, no nonsense prosecutor, who made the case throughout the hearing that justice had already been served when daniel was convicted back in 1995. We know that his allegation of actual innocence was all just a sham. And we know that for the last 17 years hes been praying to god to let him out even though hes not innocent. Gods not letting him out, he needs you to let him out, judge. Yes, sir. Reporter attorney joe spencer called a parade of witnesses. 33 of them. Including him marquez, marquez here he was with a detective who he said wanted to put him in the electric chair and fry him himself. This time the tables would be turned as daniels attorney gave marcus a grilling. Was there any physical evidence between your investigation that tied Daniel Villegas to the scene . No. Was there any forensic evidence that tied Daniel Villegas to the scene . No. Reporter what about coercing the confession the night of the arrest . Marcus denied it when asked by assistant d. A. Briggs. Prior to obtaining the statement of mr. Villegas, did you ever physically strike him . No, sir, i did not. Ever physically assault him . No, sir, i did not. Threaten him in any way to give that statement . No, sir. Marcus insisted his investigation was thorough. That he did not suffer from tunnel vision when it came to daniel, and that he did consider other suspects. You all followed up leads, as well, right . Yes, sir, we did. And then a surprise. One of the original suspects interviewed by the El Paso Police all those years ago. The defense called rudolfo rudy flores. Remember him . He was in his mid 30s now, serving time in an unrelated case. The man who along with his dead Brother Police believed was the killer. Joe spencer hoped to pull a confession out of him. What he got was almost as dramatic. It i refuse to answer any questions. I am invoking my fifth amendment right to remain silent. Rudy flores was keeping his secrets, whatever they were. I refuse to answer any questions. One witness was very eager to talk and make the case for Daniel Villegas. That was daniel. Coming up, weeks of hearings, months of waiting, and then finally a decision. Ran to my sons office, hugged him. We all cried. Inside every bottle of suave professionals is a beautiful blend. Moroccan infusion for shine, keratin infusion for smoothness, sea mineral infusion for volume, and discover new coconut oil infusion for repair. Find the blend you need for the hair you love. Suave professionals works as well as salon brands. Live beautifully suave ar cause ive been me . Looking for you drum solo giving everything i got attention kmart shoppers, love rocks when you shop at kmart for valentines day. Laundry can wreak havoc on our sweaters stretch into muumuus. And pilled cardigans become pets. But its not you, its the laundry. Protect your clothes from stretching, fading, and fuzz. With downy fabric conditioner. 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Hit it Grocery Outlet bargain market bargain market. Now its stuck in my head. Summer, 2011. The Daniel Villegas hearing, request for a new trial, dragged on and off for weeks as daniel trooped back and forth between the courtroom and his cell in the county jail. Waiting and waiting for this. Daniel villegas to talk about that easter weekend in 1993 and his fateful encounter with the detective. Had me mentally paralyzed. I was a 16yearold kid. I didnt want to go the electric chair and get fried. Was there any doubt in your mind that the detective would do that . No, there was no doubt that he would carry out the threats. The assistant d. A. Asked him about his alibi. That he was baby sitting at an apartment with several friends. Why didnt you just tell detective marquez, hey, you got the wrong guy . I was baby sitting. I told him i didnt do. It he didnt want to hear it. You didnt tell him that, did you . Told him i did not do it. Assistant d. A. Briggs was emphatic daniel did do it. That his teenage boasting and above all his confession proved his guilt beyond a doubt. And something a jury had already decided. It was all done by the book. Legally obtained, he said. Protocol properly followed. In his closing, briggs told the judge that daniels claim of innocence was little more than a media event. The press want to know because then they get their big, sensational story. I guess my question, judge, is are we going to succumb to the media pressure or follow the law . Popular or unpopular as that may be. Its your choice. After the writ hearing, thats when there was a huge, huge, Huge Movement of support for daniel. Reporter but that was the court of public opinion. The only opinion that really mattered was the judge. He would be the one to recommend whether or not daniel should be granted a new trial. A negative word from judge medrano, and it was all but over for daniel. Yet another christmas came and went. The 17th christmas without daniel. The villegases still decorated their tree, hoped for next year. Then new years passed and easter and fourth of july. No news. Torture. Its like we had done all we could do, and all we could do was sit and wait. Finally, august of 2012. Judge medrano announced he had made a decision. And all of them filed back into his courtroom, hearts in their mouths, to hear what it was. It is this courts recommendation to the texas court of criminal appeals that the applicant, Daniel Villegas request for a new trial should be granted. [ cheers and applause ] all the years of anguish came out. I was overwhelmed. All them 19 years just washed out. Overwhelmed, man. Overwhelmed. I feel so happy for daniel. Not everybody was happy with the judges finding. Assistant d. A. John briggs Daniel Villegas is a convicted murderer. Its his burden to carry the day on this writ. He hasnt gotten there in my mind. Im not persuaded by anything that hes presented that we have the wrong person. We still knew that we had one more hurdle. Oh, yes, and it was a very big one. The judges recommendation wasnt the final word. The Texas State Court of criminal appeals would ultimately decide whether daniel got a new trial. Nine law and order justices whose decision would take several months and would be announced with little fanfare on line. Once a week, it was always a wednesday, the court posted its decisions. So every wednesday morning daniel awoke in his cell in a state of extreme anxiety. I would ask my mom if i was on the list. Shell tell me, no, youre not on the list, baby. And ill be like, oh god. Gotta wait another week. And that it just kept on goin on, week after week after week. Reporter the legal rarity that had gotten daniel this far seemed to have lost its momentum. Another christmas passed his birthday too and a host of holidays. The long delay, daniel understood, was not a good sign. As he expressed to his mother over the jail phone. Dont blame god for it, daniel. Dont blame god. Youre just having a bad day, just like i was. Having a bad day . This is every day. This aint just today, this aint its gonna be tomorrow, its gonna be the next day. Reporter every saturday john mimbela visited daniel, used whatever he could to keep hope alive. I had to give him some kind of encouragement. So somebody had offered to sell me a convertible and i said, what a perfect way to encourage daniel. I said, daniel, this car is waiting for you, so dont worry about it, youre coming home. Reporter but then 16 months after the Appeals Court got the case, daniels mother checked the Court Website like always. This time, there it was, a decision from the justices revealed in three incredible words relief is granted. I fell to the ground. Screaming like a psycho. Reporter did she make sense when she talked to you . No. I had to call her and ask what happened, what happened . Reporter the texas court of criminal appeals had voted unanimously to grant daniel a new trial. John mimbelas phone rang. It was his lawyer with the news. Says yes, we got it, john. Ran to my sons office, hugged him, and we all cried. We got it. That moment will live you with for the rest of your days. That was probably the happiest days of my life. I was in a state of shock. I was like, no, this isnt happening. Reporter over a year you were waiting. 16 months. The longest 16 months of my life. Reporter the texas court of criminal appeals not only granted daniel a new trial due to ineffective assistance of counsel, it vacated his conviction. In other words, it was no as if hed never been put on trial. Meaning that i wasnt a convicted felon. That was the most beautiful part there. Reporter clean, you have no record at all. None. Reporter whats more, like anyone awaiting trial, it was possible daniel could be released on bail. Mimbela, who had already spent well into six figures on the case, feared bail would be set in the millions. Beyond his ability to pay. Meaning daniel would quite possibly remain just where he was behind bars. Coming up, will the d. A. Try for trial number three . Were praying that that doesnt happen. When dateline continues. Before i had the shooting, burning, pinsandneedles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet were the first in my family to graduate from college, raised active twin girls, and trained as a nurse. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And i love helping little ones get off on the right foot. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Alright. Big smile hey, honey howd it go . Thanks, dad mcdonalds happy meal. With fresh, delicious cuties. Feel a spark of emotion light up every inch of you. Feel warm inside. Feel our big beautiful candle. Feel glade. Sc johnson. Bounty is two times more absorbent. More sit per roll. So one roll of bounty can last longer than those bargain brands. So you get more life per roll. Bounty. The longlasting quicker picker upper. Unaware death was lurking. D, what . He was challenged by a team of lumberjacks. Lets do this. He would drive them to hard knocks canyon, where he would risk broken legs, losing limbs, and slipping and dying. Not helping. But death would have to wait. James left with newfound knowledge, a mans gratitude, and his shirt. How far will you take the allnew rav4 hybrid . Toyota. Lets go places. So we know how to cover almost alanything. Thing, even turkey jerks. [turkey] gobble. [butcher] im sorry burke covered march fourth,2014. Talk to farmers. Weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum reporter january 14th, 2014. Daniel villegas had been locked up almost 20 years. Depending on what happened in this courtroom, his life behind bars would continue, or he would taste freedom for the First Time Since he was a teenager. It all depended on a bail hearing, where once again judge medrano would make a key decision, this time setting the amount. John mimbela worried, rightly, that it would be astronomical, beyond his means. Im gonna have to come up with some money. Reporter but to everyones surprise the judge set bail at 50,000, of which mimbela only had to pay a small percentage just over a thousand bucks. Oh my god. [ laughter ] another happy, happy moment. Its like, that i think i can live with. Probably the smallest check ive written so far. Reporter john mimbela happily wrote the check, and before very long [ cheers ] it was priceless. It was priceless. We had waited for so long for that moment to happen. Reporter somebody else greeted daniel too, somebody he had never met. Jesse hernandez. I said, daniel. And he turned around and he looked at me, and and i whispered to him, im so sorry. Im so sorry for what happened to you. I really am. But im so happy for you. That youre out, and youre enjoying this. And he says, oh, man. Thank you so much. I love you. And he gave me a kiss. Reporter and a few minutes later, daniel was whisked away in the red convertible john mimbela promised him back in those dark days when all seemed lost. What better way than to present him his car, and let him ride away in that car . Reporter Pretty Amazing day. Very amazing. Couldnt believe that this day had finally come. Reporter they went to church then. And then they had a feast. His first steak in years. Delicious. Reporter he came home to yellow ribbons. Experiencing all the new things. Well, reacquainting himself with the old. Havent been in my bid in a long time. Reporter including his daughter, just an infant when he was imprisoned. Now 20 and married and in college. Since his release, daniels been making up for lost time. He has a job at mibela contractors, naturally, and a new baby. This would have been the conclusion to our story, but as everyone knows, the world sometimes has other plans, as does d. A. Jaime esparza. Despite the Court Rulings and public sentiment, the d. A. Is convinced daniel is a killer and should be locked up for life. Hes promised to try him all over again. Lets have a jury decide whether or not he committed the crime or not. Thats always been our policy. We do our talking in court. Reporter though the d. A. Has declined our interview request until after the case is resolved, he is preparing to introduce new allegations. One is from a man who says he remembers more than 20 years after the fact hearing daniel confess sometime around his two trials. Also allegations that daniel can be heard in a much disputed prison phone call with his mother mumbling something that the prosecutor hears as im not innocent. And also, mimbela and daniel in telephone calls, the prosecutor will say, conspired to influence witnesses when they can be heard strategizing. The claim which according to mimbela amounts to a Smear Campaign by the d. A. Are they trying to get at the truth in your view . Not at all. I believe theyre just trying to hide the truth. But does the d. A. Have a case . The judge has already thrown out much of the states evidence. Daniels confession, inadmissible because it was coerced. All those hours of prison phone calls ruled out as simply irrelevant. The judge did not hear any confession on those tapes. The d. A. Determined to move forward is appealing that particular decision. Though around el paso, in and out of the legal community, we encountered many people who wondered why the d. A. Will not let it go. One of the doubters, the d. A. s own cocounsel at daniels first trial. Former assistant District Attorney john williams. I dont know why theyre pursuing it, to be honest with you. I talked to some of the officers who were also involved. And a lot of the people anyway have some regrets. Reporter maybe it was a rush to judgment. Right. Reporter the d. A. , Jaime Esparza, is up for reelection. He faces opposition. The villegas case is a controversial issue in the campaign. One of esparzas opponents says if elected shell review the case to see whether is t should be pursued. The other opponent says barring earthshattering evidence, hell drop the case. For now, john mimbela is bracing for trial three. You know, were praying that that doesnt happen. It would be a shame to put daniel and his family through it again. I dont know if it goes to trial we win it or theyre going to drop the charges. Either beltways one deal. 19 years ago i didnt have the chance to be here, you know . Reporter at the edge of john mimbelas office, the face of a new project that daniel and mimbela plan to open should the case be dismissed or should daniel be acquitted. Im excited about that one. Weve got to get a lot of people that are in prison, literally hundreds of us still in there. They dont got a john in their life. Weve got to be that john for them. Reporter and mimbela plans to retire soon from the construction business. Once called the king of construction in el paso. That was the thing he hoped to be remembered for. Then he walked into a bank and met a woman who gave him along with her love the challenge of his life. It would be probably the best thing ive ever done. Every penny, every hour i spent on daniels case was worth it because now daniels with his family. Reporter how many more hours and more things will depend on a decision not his to make . Whatever happens to daniel, john mimbela lived up to his word. A promise is a promise all the way. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. [ vocalizing ] [ imitating trumpet ] bum, bum [ imitating trumpet ] bum, bum [ vocalizing ] [ imitating beats ] [ cheering ] please dont stop the please dont stop the please dont stop the music music, music, music music, music, music please dont stop the music music, music, music [ vocalizing ] music, music [ girl ] i love you, treblemakers [ imitating beats ] its gettin late