The Phantom

By: MJ Asuncion

The American justice system is far from perfect. The fight against social injustice has long been a part of this nation, and it is ever present in today’s society. Though it can be difficult, frustrating and often times discouraging, we continue to use our voices to bring attention to the need for change. But how far have we really come? Discrimination comes in all forms and sometimes it is masked behind acts of justice that aren’t always justified. These acts have severe consequences that taint our history. How have we not learned from the mistakes made in the past?

On a cold February night in 1983 Wanda Lopez was brutally stabbed to death at a Corpus Christi, Texas gas station convenience store. An immediate arrest was made within the first hour of her death and the police were convinced, without any doubt, that they had the right man. From the moment of his arrest, and over the next six years, 21-year-old Carlos DeLuna protested his innocence claiming that he knew the man who actually committed the murder. Was he telling the truth? Did the man in question, Carlos Hernandez, actually exist or was he a “phantom” that DeLuna created in order to attain his freedom?

Carlos DeLuna was a young Latino man who presented as very soft spoken, uneducated and without much confidence. He grew up in a poverty-stricken neighborhood, who was no longer close to his family and had been known to have trouble with the law before. He was targeted as the only suspect in the Lopez murder mainly due to eyewitness accounts, which later are shown to be less than accurate. During his incarceration he maintained his innocence and continuously pleaded for the arrest of Hernandez. Even with a string of public defenders and a series of appeals, regardless of what evidence or lack of thereof, that were presented, DeLuna was found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty. The documentary The Phantom walks the viewers through the tragic case of DeLuna through a series of interviews, past footage and recordings and reenactments.

The Phantom was directed by Patrick Forbes, who is one of the UK’s top documentary directors. He is known for films The Force, The Widowmaker and True Stories: Wikileaks – Secrets and Lies, which premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim.

The story is compelling, but also very frustrating to watch. From the moment of DeLuna’s arrest and all through the recount of events, I found myself with more and more questions and very few answers. How could something like this happen? Did everyone really turn a blind eye to justice? It would seem that DeLuna’s background played a large part in why the system didn’t give him a fair chance. He was judged before he could even speak and was dismissed as someone who was “disposable.”

Anyone interested in real criminal cases and would like insight behind one of our nation’s biggest miscarriages of justice should watch The Phantom. A warning though, it is a highly emotional and heartbreaking story that may leave you in shock and with even more questions than when you started.