Last night, IPF held a screening of Juan Melendez-6446 at the All Saints Theater run by the Tallahassee Film Society:

For such short notice, the event was well attended with over fifty people coming to watch this emotional documentary and hear Juan Melendez speak.

Juan’s story is a unique one because he would have likely died by lethal injection had it not been for a stroke of luck.  His investigator found a taped confession of the true killer.  Even then, the prosecution did not agree to let Juan go.  Only after some “gentle nudging” from the media, did the prosecution wise up and release this innocent man.  The film also documents the special relationship between Juan and his mother and their native Puerto Rico.

Juan is a talented speaker and an inspirational guy.  He has dedicated himself to teaching people of all ages about the problems with the death penalty.  He was instrumental in Governor Bill Richardson’s decision to abolish the death penalty in New Mexico, where Juan currently lives.  We hope that Juan will make some repeat trips to Florida to spread the same message of change.

Thank you to all who attended.  Juan will be featured tonight on Capital Report on Florida Public Radio at 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM and also on Monday during Morning Edition. You can listen live here.

We’ll post pictures of the event when they become available.