The Phantom

I have seen many shocking films and series about miscarriages of justice like 'Making a Murderer', 'An Innocent Man', '10 Rimmington Place' and 'In the Name of the Father' and read about cases such as Krishna Maharaj but this is probably the most shocking: like in the true crime film '10 Rimmington Place' an innocent man is executed for a crime committed by a serial killer but in this instance the police know the accused is innocent all along but let the killer free to kill again merely because he's a police informant. In effect the police have murdered the innocent but convicted Carlos De Luna and the serial killers future victims, or just the serial killer himself (called Carlos Hernandez). They even lied and claimed they could find no trace of Hernandez despite him having an extensive criminal record consisted of numerous arrests and convictions and some prison time! Shame on these corrupt murderers and shame on Texas for even having such a medieval form of 'justice' as the death penalty in the first place!

They tell the story in the beginning. Then they tell it again somewhat towards the end. They didn't really seem to add much in the second telling. Pacing was a little slow and disjointed. Not executed (no pun intended) well. Story was interesting. I could see how one could easily argue they got the wrong person. Two people called it out for being racist. I don't get it. I think it was a little more about police incompetence, laziness, and desire to close a case. It's not inconceivable to me that they could have made a mistake in the 80s. It happens today, even with technology. The two people in question looked very similar. The guy they arrested had no blood on him even though it was a very bloody scene. He has no history of such violence or even using a knife, it's absurd to say "a criminal is a criminal". The other guy has a ton of history of violence with a knife that looks exactly like the one at the scene of the crime. But this guy who was arrested also wasn't behaving so smart: was that because he was afraid or in an emotional state? Based on only the information in the documentary, I can see that it's extremely easy to accept they made a mistake. Who knows what information is missing. I am already someone who is against the death penalty, so this didn't change my view on it. I'm not sure what they wanted me to get out of the documentary. That police make mistakes and that they sometimes put the wrong guy in jail and don't really seem to care? No need, I know it's true, even if it's rare. All in all, it was fine for the casual viewer but not super compelling because they didn't structure the documentary super well. I'm sure there are worse documentaries, though.

Carlos DeLuna is portrayed as an angel. He had a very long criminal record himself - including attempting to rape a woman. Is this someone we are supposed to be crying over? At the very best he was part of a robbery, where his longtime friend stabbed a woman to death, and then they both fled - then covered for his friend. Innocent angel? I don't think so. He deserved death for the attempted rape so I wouldn't lose sleep over this beast.

This is an interesting case spoiled by bad story telling. First half, 45mins of the documentary was basically the same thing repeating over and over again. They spend 45 mins trying make you feel sorry and somewhat emotional about Mr. Deluna. Then the other half where the real thing is supposed to start, it just skimmed over the top. Definitely not for fans of crime documentaries. Not much details given other than the fact an innocent person was hanged and it's all because of racism. Never mind the fact that Deluna lied many times and made it hard for anyone to believe his story in the beginning. But it does make a solid argument against the death penalty. The racist angle their spin kinda was like the cherry on top of this bad documentary. An ok watch if your a casual viewer. Not recommended for crime fans.

I'm deeply disturbed of how innocents' lives are destroyed and taken. I cannot believe the incompetence of the police. Even though, they were given the name of the original killer who has been accused several times with the smilier accusation (similar weapon) , left evidence behind in every scene, they were blindfolded, they want this inccent man's life to be taken.....cannot believe it.

An interesting true crime story that was short but also kind of scary. The interviews were relevant but sometimes off topic. The video editing was poor and the first five minutes down right disorienting.

Could it be that two men with extensive criminal histories, both named Carlos, each committed terrible crimes? This documentary entirely fails to convince the viewer that police got the wrong man. Very poor story telling, completely unconvincing. Zero evidence that the wrong man was convicted. I kept waiting for the bombshell, and I'm still waiting. I could go on and on but, unlike this documentary, I know when I've said what I need to say. Just another Netflix cash grab in our beloved true crime genre.

This is a poor attempt in telling a serious story. The first 45 minutes is redundancy after redundancy after redundancy. Really, do not waste your time. Read an article about the story. Please, save yourself 1h21m.