door not only here but elsewhere, and just hasn't been able to finish it off. he's about ready to finish rickie off here in the fourth playoff hole. >> the pendulum has been swinging pointing towards both of them. different occasions here. either one of them could have won this. >> for par. >> this move a little left towards that water to his left? call. it's not a lot. wants to go that direction. >> based on everything we've down.

these. >> up and out. that was pushed. >> well, turn out the lights, the party is over after an hour of playoffs. >> well, this hole is his nemesis. bogeyed it both times. >> gary documenting nine balls in the water through the years here at 17 that have his number. the. >> two-h putts, matsuyama, to

. >> well -- >> i think he can handle this one. >> you bet he can. matsuyama finally closes the deal on rickie fowler. three bogeys on number 17 this week for rickie fowler. on a hole that he should birdie half the time. >> he had a two-shot lead in regulation as he went there for the first time today. a bogey there. another costly one in the water there. hideki matsuyama with his second pga tour victory. if you missed any of today's action, you can get caught up with golf central on golf channel. next stop for the golf channel on the nbc team is the honda classic where the top players in the world pick out the bear traps. that's february 25th.

for the entire golf channel on nbc, dan hicks saying so long from tpc scottsdale where hideki matsuyama survived a four-hole sudden death playoff over rickie

this is a family you would want to aavoid? >> i had my doubts. if he is in prison it is probably because he ises guilty. they would always say he was in know sent. >> i knew john was busy rung ning his construction story. how he was locked up for life. appeal after appeal had been turned down. >> i would give him details on daniel being convicted. i kind of knew that they didn't have representation. and heap lost his case. and he lost his case. >> reporter: by then daniel had been in prison more than ten years.

they're sitting there crying. >> i mean, cries of desperation. >> reporter: daniel's parents had been trying to find a legal group or agency, an attempt that their son was innocent the they just received their final rejection. daniel's sister michelle was there too. >> and that was my last hope and it seemed there was nothing we could do. >> reporter: these are his parents. >> i fell apart. d i do to my baby? i vowed i was going to protect him. the slightest. >> reporter: they were telling you, forget it. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: daniel's appeals had failed.eem to be any way out. and then, there in the middle ofe said something naive, foolish perhaps. >> i felt, very, very bad for the family at the moment. me take the

look ate.i could do. but, please stop crying and don't worry. >> we were all like, "yes, of ." >> reporter: but really what could he do? didn't have a clue about the case that put daniel in prison the workings of the law. oh, these sudden impulses. if john had known what was t would do to him and everybody else, would he have been a little more prudent? would he have kept his mouth >> his family insists he is innocent. even though a jury found him guilty. if it wasn't daniel, who was it?ack -- >> here you had this person who killed these two boys. and was out there with a weapon, this person kill? >> and john, a man used to challenges, takes on the biggest challenge of his life.

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>> reporter: he was a building contractor by trade, knew nothing abut the law, and knew out a convicted

now john levella.h the massive case file of a 12-year-old double-murder trying to make sense of all of the intricate >> it was transcripts. it was some police reports. >> reporter: who knew there would be so much?ise is a promise. so, membella treated the tax like a second job. by day ran his company.d amateur detech tichlt -- detective. >> i read it over and over. >> reporter: this went on for weeks.cy barely saw him. >> got home from work. and wow, it was serious. the story, membella pieced together from the court files. good friday, 1993. a warm spring evening.r teenage boys were walking home from a

as he read the case file he noticed one of the boys, jesse d police what happened. how out of the night, a '70s maroon colored car looking something like this one, rolled whatever model the car was, it was trouble. >> my heart started racing, i going to get in an altercation." so the cart was doing this kind of, cat-and-mouse, back and up. would take off a little further. and then back up. and then just stopped.was pumping, and we have got to get home. >> reporter: then relieved the car left. the boys kept walking.r and several blocks away, the car appeared again. slowed to a crawl. turned off its lights. stopped. >> i was like, "uh-oh.

then. the boys didn't listen. instead his friends approached ling. >> before i know it i started hearing gunshots.i saw lights flash towards me and hit the fence. it was just, tat-tat-tat. >> the same car that bothered all i was thinking i want to go home. i want to be in a safe place. >> reporter: he and his other friend, ran, ran for their ok back. when bobby and mondo failed to turn up behind them. the two went back to find them.eady see, flashing lights, red and blue. i knew something was wrong. >> reporter: it was.sse's best friends, mondo and bobby were dead. >> i was living a night mare. i'm going to wake up soon. i'm going to wake up now.

up.he murder was big news in el paso. he dug up old newspaper n what looked at first like a gang shooting. yet the victims were not gang bangers, just innocent kids he wrong time. tv reporter maria garcia has been covering the case for years. >> people were on edge about it here you had this person who killed these two boys for no good reason.th a weapon. and if he killed armando lazo ho were popular, good kids. who else could the person kill? this was an alarming case. >> reporter: alarming and puzzling. to kill these kids? why? he looked up what he could of their background. their personal stories.

a kind friendly young man.popular, fun-loving and cared deeply about his friend. >> he was always watching out for me.rotective of me. i would feel his hand on me. i would still feel that warm touch. i hope i never lose that feeling.uld still remember him. >> reporter: mando and bobby's murder got a lot of attention from the cops. rests. and then, a break. a tip. someone in the neighborhood was he blew away mando and bobby with a shotgun. the boaster, the young man he had accepted as a kind of ther-in-law. daniel viellegas. coming up -- two very different sides of >> that kind of made it hard for me to understand that daniel might be innocent. >> i didn't believe it. i mean he was a kid.s having fun. >> reporter: when dateline

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>> a patient who wants to die. >> we are supposed to be saving lives. >> i will terminate you.ave to die. >> clear. i said clear. >> reporter: it was not like john to make rash promises. especially a promise to

but he was so determined that the daniel villega she knew was no murderer.lieve it. he was a kid. just always having fun. >> did he seem like the sort of person who was capable of that? >> no, not at all.. he liked to joke around a lot. a lighthearted guy.rted or not. daniel wasn't a choirboy. he belonged to a gang the he had a rap sheet for a few misdemeanors.. he looked to party. maybe too much. but boast about murder?like more than a party prank. but daniel's parents said that's just how daniel was.they said, trying to navigate life in a dangerous neighborhood.was frying to trying to be tough. in a tough area. >> a lot of gangs. >> they feared him. he would have a better chance of

figured wrong. because it certainly caught the attention of detectives of the department. not surprising late one night they showed up at the villegas' front door and took 16-year-old n for questioning. >> my mom was telling him not to say anything. she would get him a lawyer in the morning. but he didn't make it to the morning.didn't. sometime before the morning came, daniel confessed that he killed those two boys. of these years later, he saw what was daniel's indelible was true. >> that kind of what made it hard for me to understand that done yell might daniel might be. he confessed. >> reporter: the signed confession got daniel charged with capital murder. neighborhood boys who gave el paso police signed statements

with daniel when he fired the tal shots. when daniel went on trial in ime esparza decided to personally prosecute the case. >> you will have to sort through all of the evidence. all of the lies. daniel's defense attorney argued that. g a movie with friends at this apartment. in the end, 11 jurors voted to convict.ut for acquittal. a hung jury. a relief for daniel's family despite his confession still now sent. daniel had just become a father. seemed to think he might be able to stay with his infant . >> very important. >> reporter: but jesse hernandez, a witness for the y unhappy with that hung jury.

"don't worry. pushing. we are going to get hem." >> reporter: sure enough, the da tried daniel again. the vi money. so the court appointed an attorney who had very little time to prepare for trial. >> they called one witness to the stand.se attorney called 18 witnesses. >> reporter: and he was found guilty in a hurry. >> reporter: in 1995, daniel was sentenced to life in prison. old. >> it was solved. the two victims got their justice. case closed.ase closed for everyone. except daniel and his family. s to them the verdict was a complete shock.ghtmare to see his face. we tried to hug him before they were going to take him. much of a shock, that he didn't move for

so they grabbed him and whisked him away.ut remember, daniel bragged to his friend that he did it. confessed to the cops that he did it. he read all that.orts. the trial, the appeals. saw they were all denied. yet to this layman's eye, be missing. it just didn't add up. any physical evidence whatsoever." >> reporter: but he still couldn't answer that one centraly would anyone confess to a murder he didn't commit? >> coming up -- daniel speaks out.? or did he just give in? >> he said "if you don't make a statement. i will make sure you get the

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they're always on television. what? >> reporter: of the thousands of poured

daniel's confession. signed at the bottom, which l approved what was written there. it was his ticket to a life term in prison. and yet -- confession did not match anything of what the police report said.ed again and again. maybe he was mistaken. but no, daniel said the color of the car was white. is was it was maroon. the way he described the sequence of shots, differed fromr told 911. he also said he was accompanied by a driver and passenger it turned out were nowhere near the crime that night. so, of course, it was probably some explanation that didn't mean daniel was innocent.te him a letter. >> trying to get a feel for if he was innocent or not.

let him know is that being a , i wanted to have faith in the fact if he was guilty. >> reporter: the letter went to ertson unit prison in abileen, 450 miles from el paso.e had the best system. >> reporter: this is daniel villegas. by the time, he wrote his letterhe texas prison system. daniel was 29 then. wouldn't be eligible for parole until he was in his 50s.his sister a letter telling her he wanted to end it all. saying he couldn't wait on some mira happen. >> i was worried that he would do something drastic. but i didn't even blame him.hat kind of misery. i didn't want him to live like that. i just started crying.

decision to take his own life and the final act. daniel for the first time in years said a little prayer. i am not asking you to let me out. if you are, give me a sign i'm >> next day he got my letter. >> reporter: coincidence? of course. what else could it be?ded maybe hope was worth having after all. when he went to see him in prison. had readen the en in the police report. stow what hap boys were murder. in fact, daniel had no idea. yes he heard about it. yes he did stupidly. he was the tough guy who did it. sure enough before too long, said daniel.om at

office, handcuffed to a chair, teran detective. alfonso marcus. marcus' retz sume includes an he was featured on this episode from the same year, 1993. >> is there anything, any final u want to same? >> reporter: daniel was 16. terrified. certainly, naive. he was read his miranda rights. four times.t never asked for an attorney. marcus, according to daniel. demand he confess. >> if you don't. he said i will take you out to the the desert.ar, kick your ass. let you walk back to the highway. pick you up again. kick your ass.county jail with a bunch of [ bleep ] and let them rape you. >> he protested he had nothing to do with the murders of the two teams.telling me "look, you little punk. i know you did this."

the head, "do you hear me, punk?" >> offered him a deal, said daniel. go to juve instead of prison. he said it went be bad on you. if you don't make a statement, you will get the electric chair. >> reporter: if you confess to committing a murder you will get a lighter sentence. if you didn't confess he would make sure you got the death penalty. >> yeah.pull the switch on it. i would do anything possible to get away from him. so i said, okay, you know, i atement. >> reporter: that was after four hours in custody. frightened, exhausted.ything. >> yeah. >> reporter: you didn't think when you said those things this means i will be in prison for life. >> no, i didn't.ome on, really? >> not even thinking of the future. just thinking the present moment. >> reporter: getting out of there? >> exactly.ve marcus, who since retired, declined our request for an interview.

department.ffice says, marcus was never alone with daniel. even if he was, he wouldn't have said he did. assistant d.a. john williams, who helped prosecute daniel in the first trial said the gitimate. >> thatality case that its presented. that's the case that is presented. that's what you go for. they mark it solved crime. give it to the da's office. push it off on the prosecution. exactly.the time, he drove home from his prison visit, he was convinced.im the truth. it was the confession that was a lie. >> he seemed like a very, nice, naive, young kid.there its no way he could have really committed this crime. >> well, you know everybody in prison says i'm innoajority of them are not. how were you so sure there was a

>> i did a lot of research on ons. that confession that daniel gave and i read, fit exactly what -- say false confessions are. >> reporter: all the classic symptoms were there? >> they were. >> reporter: with daniel's exhausted, what could he do? he needed help. no idea then that someone who iel had aster a ster story to still. he just needed to find him. - he was almost shot by the killer, how could detectives think he was the killer? even stranger, he almost confessed. know what they're going to fry you. >> fry you? >> yeah. >> sound familiar? when dateline continues. ontinues. u that the better choice for him is aleve. up. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as hetaking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so...

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>> reporter: el paso, 2007. john was ever more focused on one major project. daniel villegas.eople criticize why i was trying to help a killer get out of jail.

he had no idea.as goat etting into. legal learning curve. hurdle. expense, the system. the whole impossible process. he might have stopped right nown. instead convinced daniel was innocent, he decided the thing he should do was take what he ho put daniel in prison in the 90s. da jaime esparza. a cold-blooded killer. >> i think there is enough asive evidence in the case. >> reporter: nevertheless, he >> everybody thought it was crazy.s the guy that convicted daniel. why would you go talk to him? >> reporter: good question. >> i'm like, he needs to know the truth.ter: he marched into the da's office confident esparza would see the light, correct his mistake and free daniel.daniel's confession was coerced.

>> reporter: and? >> he tells me, "john, i can't do anything about it.u have to is nesh nitiate it. get an appeals lawyer." >> reporter: he hired a lawyer. who said you have zero to slim f getting this kid off. >> reporter: what was it look to hear that? >> my heart sank. he's like, doesn't matter, john. the system doesn't care. it is about wing. and losing. >> reporter: the attorney told ally only one thing he could do. file a petition seeking a writ s corpus, last ditch appeal, that daniel had been falsely and unlawfully imprisoned. >> it will cost you $20,000. hings take up to ten years. and no guarantee.rely succeed. >> rarely sequester seed.

the petition would take months to prepare.cularly good at waiting around. >> john got in, private investigators.ddie bonilla, a homicide detective for el paso for 20 years. >> reporter: he spent a couple file. and? >> there was no weapon. no car. no identification. no nothing. confession. >> reporter: bonilla started an investigation. they fanned out from the crime he police reports, dug for new clues, and -- >> there is not one single thing that i would go to court and s guy ended up with this. there is not one piece of evidence. >> reporter: they also tracked and found him. jesse hernandez. one of the teens who survived the shooting and testified

jesse was divorced. reclusive and bad case of survivor's guilt. he persuaded his friend to go out that night.ater, he was still haunted by it. >> my friends would still be here today.n't have happened. >> reporter: it was late at night when the two came to call. >> i opened the door.an i help you. they were like, jesse hernandez. yes. >> we identified ourselves. we are here wanting information murder of armando and robert. >> i said, murder. i'm sorry, you got the wrong guy. i don't know anything about no murder. d he had no idea what they were talking about. then he explained how he believed daniel had been wronglykilling his friends. >> how did they convict daniel?

ve was falsely coerced. >> he turned white. jesse hernandez turn pale? because of what happened to him. jesse he was called to police headquarters for an interview. there he said the same detectivete down what he remembered about the shooting. jesse did. he said, you know this is bull [ bleep ]. you know and i know you did it. how could you be saying it? i didn't do anything? yes you did. that's not true.riends. i love my friends. and i said you, know what, you are going to have to explain to the judge. they're going to fry you. i couldn't stop crying. had him convince heed had a he had a blackout and killed his friend. he came close to a confession.

cops. furious about what detective marcus had done to her son. and jesse was not questioned by . and was never charged with anything. now, all of these years later, jesse looked at the copy of ssion that novella had given him. >> i started reading it. hold on, that's not how it happened.remembered vividly the color of the killer's car. the direction it was driving.f the shots. daniel's confession was wrong on all of them. what's more neither the car the killer drove nor the murder found. and no physical evidence of any kind implicated daniel.y convict daniel? i kempt thin pt thinking he was look me. he wanted out. he wanted to go home. i am pretty sure he did sign, dowanted. i had to do something.

i said, john, it's going to be hard for me.what i can. with jesse on board. he went looking for more legal muscle. se. in 2010 he contact the the northwestern university school of law center on wrongful convictions of youth.zes in cases involving false confessions by teenagers. attorney josh teffer was n. >> we said that, we will take a look at it. and as soon as we did. we were hooked. and john was right. we had to be involved.n fact, hundreds of cases like daniel's, kids who claim they signed theirssure. >> it doesn't take much for a young person to cave and of pressure. >> reporter: the only way you get out of this room is tell us what we want to hear. >> exactly. >> reporter: north western

too. but novella, contractor during the daytime and legal scholar at night.rage the da to support daniel's case and persuade the judge to grant daniel's writ of habeas corpus evidentiary hearing. in which all evidence could be presented? >> i had been told, evidentiary hearings are very rare.he only shot daniel had at freedom. but novella knew before the judg hear from the other big player in the case, da jaime esparza. three years earlier, epsarza this time, he was confident unearthed the da would be persuaded.went by. months. they waited. then, several days before office announced it reviewed the request and had given the judge

and -- t the response from the da asking the judge not to give us an evidentiary hearing. >> look he put the bullet ties? >> that's it. >> reporter: hope is a dangerous thing in prison. daniel knew.ickly learning. >> there were times when he started to give up hope. encourage him as much as i could. >> got to have faith. got to have faith. >> we try.s hard. in then everything is going to work out, okay. >> i told him, "daniel, i am never going to stop fighting for you. so don't give up.i am not giving up." >> still, novella prepared for a fighor the fastest gun in town. somebody who could navigate the system and give daniel a

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holiday season of 2010 was not a joyous time for john. the da to his other surprise niel not get a new hearing. so now, he braced himself for sion. and with christmas approaching he liked shopping not for gifts but for a tough courtroom lawyer.g shot came

and daniel did get his day in ge. >> i asked abound and said who is the best lawyer for daniel. spencer. >> reporter: so he set up a meeting, made his pitch.o trials. >> yeah. >> he confessed? >> yes. >> double homicide? yes. his appeal? >> yes. >> i go what do you want? >> reporter: spencer had seen a lot of cases in his day.eople off. this case wasn't just a long shot. it was a sure fire loser. >> you don't understand, john, this is texas.e you about 0 to 5% chance of being successful. closer to 0 than to 5. i am telling you that, i don't at we can win this case. >> reporter: nevertheless, spencer took the beg file

red through it front to back.an injustice. really saw a wring that need ong. i wanted to be part of it. >> r the man who took daniel's confession. detective alfonso marcus. whose investigation, spencer te at best. >> the physical evidence, forensic evidence, the eyewitness testimony did not radicted daniel's confession. surely, if a statement like that is made and compared to the facts, they throw out the statement. >> something else in the file that caught joe spencer's eye. statements from police from two ts. the flores brothers. javier dead. and his brother rudy. both had been cleared by the cops.as weird. the flores brothers were known gang members. according to murder victim's friends. rudy had a particular dislike o.

>> rudy flores. according to what we know from said he was going to kill armando lasso.ce had investigated those claims. >> reporter: before the shooting? >> before the shooting, yes. >> reporter: after the shooting? >> when questioned by police, res admitted to being in the vicinity of the shooting at the team of the shooting.an see, the police department never really followed those leads thoroughly. >> they did not even look at tatement thamt he t he puts himself at the scene of the crime. if they looked at that they would have seen there is something wring here. i think the detectives, el vision. when they got daniel to confess they were oblivious to anything else. >> reporter: so sitting there in his cell with the new high-powered legal team behind him.ase. daniel allowed him tefl

possibilities., hope, miracles do happen now adates. happen all the time.the miracle. >> reporter: his parents had his room ready, hoping after a decade and a half behind bars, he would finally be coming home.lla. >> i just remember myself thinking, "thank you, god. ened. someone who was trying." >> reporter: privately, john knew that there was no hope he rza around to his way of seeing things. esparza's mind was made up.n idea. [ horn honking ]n in-your-face-kind-of-crazy idea. coming up. daniel gets a second chance at justice. >> face to face with the e who he said threatened to putt him in

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first.n. then more popped up. could do is bring awareness. this is wrong. maybe we can change things.rter maria garcia garcia. >> he believes in the cause with all his heart. he has gone through great t other people to believe.

cause.. >> full force. he spent a lot of money. hundreds of thousands of dollars.he added a sense of credibility, of legitimacy. i think people stan. >> reporter: the d.a. was paying attention too. well aware of the street campaign and how it was helping shape public opinion.has taken it in some way personally. because this was a case that was important to him.is is an affront to justice. every time we have come to the el paso courthouse and tried to aime esparza. he shut us down. he has told us he is ethically o.

d.a. point of view based on his at has leaked out to other report ears long the way. which is, the da is still a killer. he was not about to let him get a shot at a third trial. especially since he was and square in esparza's view years ago. a rare public comment for local tv. >> i have to believe in the evidence.ve never asked that jury to convict if i thought i had douchlts i would never have asked them to do that. had doubts.sked them to do that. one of the victim's families agreed and supported the da decision. the judge would have the final say. judge sam madrano.refully the da objection. spent months reviewing the file. finally decided -- yes.ition. he granted daniel's writ of

warrant a trial. >> we knew we had to get the hearing, we had a chance of freeing daniel.t. >> reporter: there would be no jury at the hearing. the judge alone would hear witnesses and then decide whether or not to recommend to riminal appeals that daniel get a new trial. >> hope started to build.n uphill battle. this was the last chance. >> reporter: a few weeks before the hearing.n the prisoner transpart bus to el paso. he was in high spirits. the first time he had been to years. we met with him shortly after he arrived at his new residence.l. >> to finally see the city again after so many years. you are still hoping that, a courts very rarely take. so you may not get out. >> yeah. >> reporter: you faced up to

>> yeah. to that. too much happened. too many people together. too many miracles had been happening.have thought that happening, was happening. then on a hot june day in 2011.noa's packed courtroom. filled with daniel's supporters. we saw no one from the victim's family. the hearing daniel had been finally began. unlike a regular trial. burden of proof was on the defense. which would make the case that coerced into a confession and railroaded into a wrongful conviction. >> the odds were completely against daniel.ack in el paso. back in the court house where he was convicted. >> reporter: by this time, da parza wasn't at the prosecution table. in his place, a tough, no nonsense prosecutor that made the hearing

daniel was convicted in 1995.allegation of actual innocence was all just a sham. and we know that for the last 17 years, he has been praying to though he is not innocent.m out. he needs you to let him out, judge. attorney joe spencer called a parade of witnesses.em. including, him. marquez. >> reporter: detective alfonzo accusations himself. >> here he was with the detective.tuned put him in the electric chair and fry him, himself.his time the tables would be turned. as spencer gave marcus a

was there any physical evidence nvestigations that tied daniel villegas off to the scene? >> no.ensic evidence that tied daniel villegas to the scene? >> no. >> reporter: what about coercingof daniel the night of his arrest? marques denied it when asked by riggs. >> prir to or to obtaining the statement did you ever physically strike him? >> no, i did not.ally assault him? >> no, sir i did not. >> threaten him in any way to give that statement? >> no, sir.his investigation was thorough, that he did not suffer from tunnel o e to daniel and he did consider other suspects. >> y'all followed up some of the leads as well. right? >> and then, a surprise.

police. they called, aldolfo ruiz in his 30s. the man with his now dead brother, the defense believed was the killer.avit, flores denied involvement. joe spencer hoped to pull a confession out of him. what he got is all most as the dramatic.r any questions. invoking my fifth amendment right to remain silent. rudy florecrets. whatever they were. >> i refuse to answer any questions. >> reporter: one witness was o make the case for daniel villegas. that was daniel.s of hearings. months of waiting. all rise! then finally a decision.on's office. hugged him. and we all cried. d. inside every bottle of

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>> reporter: summer 2011. request for a new trial.or weeks. daniel trooped back and forth o that? >> no doubt in my mind he was going to carry out his threats. briggs asked daniel about his alibi, he was baby sitting at an apartment with several friends?ll detective marques, hey, you got the wrong guy. i was babysitting? >> i told him i didn't do it. he wouldn't hear.tell him that, did you? >> i told him i did not do that. >> assistant da briggs was

daniel did do it.ge boasting and above all his confession proved his guilt beyond a doubt. and something a jury had decide the.e by the book. legally obtained, he setd aid. protocol followed.gs told the judge, daniel's claim offen know sense was little more than a media event.hey get their great big send sags sational story. judge, are we going to succumb to the media pressure.llow the law? popular or unpopular as the that may be. your choice. at the hearing that's when there was a huge, huge, huge movement support for daniel.s the court of public opinion. the only opinion that really mattered was judge madrano's.ould

criminal appeal, whether or not be granted a new trial. a negative word from the judge and it was all but over for daniel. me and went. the 17th christmas without daniel.ted their tree, hoped for next year and new year's passed. and easter. and fourth of july. torture. it's like we had done all we could do. and all we could do now is -- is >> reporter: finally, august 2012. judge madrano announced he made a decision. filed back into his courtroom. hearts in their mouths. to hear what it was. >> it this court's e texas

the applicant daniel villegas' ial should [ applause ] >> all of the years of anguish just came on. i was overwhelmed buy that time.rs, just washed out. >> overwhelm, man. overwhelm. i feel so happy for daniel. >> reporter: not everybody was th the judge's finding. assistant da, john briggs. >> daniel villegas is a convicted murderer.to carry the burden on the writ. i am not persuaded by anything that he presented that we have on. >> we still had one more hurdle. >> reporter: yes, a very big one.mmendation wasn't the final word. the texas state court of criminal appeal, ultimately l got a new trial. nine law and order justices

several months and announced on line. where once a week, always a wednesday, the court posted decisions.sday morning, daniel awoke in his cell with a state of extreme anxiety. called my mom. she would tell me you are not on the list, baby. got to wait another week. just kempt pt going on.after week. >> reporter: the legal rarity that had gotten daniel this far, lost its momentum.mas passed. birthday too. and a host of holidays. the long delay, daniel understood was not a good sign.to his brother. over the jail phone. don't blame god.y. awe haufg this is every day. this ain't just today. it is going to be tomorrow. day. every saturday, john visited

used whatever he could to keep ve. >> i have to give him some kind so someb this convertible. i said what a perfect way to encourage daniel. you. don't worry about it. you are coming home.wednesday before christmas, 2013, 16 months after at peels court got the case -- the appeals court daniel's mother checked the court website look always. this time, there it was. es revealed in three words. relief is granted.und. screaming. >> did she make any sense when she talked to you? >> no. >> i had to call her back. happened? >> it's granted. it's granted. it's granted. the texas court of criminal

john novella's phone rang. his lawyer with the news.we goilt t it, john. i ran to my son's office. and hugged him. and we all cried. we got it. >> reporter: and a moment that will live with you for the rest huh? >> that was probably the happiest day of my life. going to finish it. i couldn't believe it was happening. >> reporter: over a year you were waiting? >> 16 months.nths of my life. >> reporter: texas court of criminal appeal not only granted daniel a new trial. convicted. in other word it was now as if he had never been put on trial. meaning.

there. >> clean. no record at all. >> none. >> what's more like any one awaiting trial it was possible daniel could be release on bail. mumbella spent six figures. bail would be set in the million. beyond his ability to pay. meaning, daniel would quite remain just where he was. behind bars. coming up -- will the da try forhree? >> were not happen. when "talt dateline" continues. continues. and trained as a nurse. but i couldn't bear my . p so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. to treat this pain. r lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. y

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uary 14, 2014. 20 years. depending on what happened in it all depended on the bail hearing. for once again, judge madrano would make a key decision.e amount. john novello worried it would be

>> have to come up with money.'s surprise the judge set bail at $50,000. of which only a small percentage would have to be paid. over $1,000.od. another happy, happy moment. it's like -- that i think i can live with. probably the smallest check i o far. john novella happily wrote the check.ery long -- [ cheers and applause ] yes! >> priceless.eless. >> we had waited for so long for that moment to happen. >> daniel! somebody else greeted daniel too.

>> i said, daniel. he turned around. he looked at me. i whispered to him. fore sorry for what happened to you. i really am. but i am so happy for you. you are out, you are enjoying this. oh, man. and he gave me a kiss. a few minutes later, daniel was convertible. in the dark days. >> what better way than to present him his car.him ride away in that car. pretty amazing day. >> very amazing. >> couldn't believe that this y come. >> they want to church. they went to church.t. his first steak in years.

>> delicious.e to yellow ribbons. >> experiencing all the new things.nting himself with the old. >> it's ben a long time. >> including his daughter. just an infant whe. now 20 and married and in college. since his release, daniel has been making up for lost time.he a job. at novella contractors, naturally. and a new baby. all of which in a happy ending been the conclusion of our story. but as everyone knows, the worldher plans. as does da jaime esparza, the da despite the court rulings and ains convinced daniel is a killer and should be locked up for life. he is promised to try him all over again. let's have the jury deside whether or not -- decide whether or not he committed the crime or

that's our policy. we do our talk in court.declined our interview request until after the case. he is planning to introduce new allegations one from a man who says he now remembers more than he fact. hearing daniel confess, sometimes around his two trials. also allegations that daniel can in a much dispult ted phone call with his mother mumbling something that the prosecutor hears as i'm not innocent., mumbella and daniel in prison telephone calls, conspired to influence witnesses when they can be heard stralt zing. a claim which according to mumbella amounts to a smear da. are they trying to get at the truth? >> not at all. i believe they're just trying to

case? judge madrano has thrown out much of the state's evidence. inadmissible because the it was coerced. all of those hours of prison phone calls, ruled out as simply irrelevant.t hear any confession on those tapes. the da determined to move ealing that particular decision. around el paso. in and out of legal community, we encountered many people who will not let it go. one of the doubters, the da's ounsel. >> i don't know why they're pursuing it. to be honest with you. they talked to some of the re also involved. and a lot of the people any way have regrets. >> reporter: maybe that was a rush to judgment. >> right.he da, jaime esparza up for re-election and

the villegas is controversial in the campaign. says if elected she will review the case mine if it should be pursued. barring earth shattering evidence, another candidate says, he'll drop the case. for now, john mumbella is for trial number three. >> you know, we are praying that that doesn't happen. be a sham to e to put daniel and his family through it again. >> i don't know if we are going to go to trial. win it.the charges. either way. 19 years ago i didn't have a chance to be here, you know. >> at the edge of the prompt sits a small empty office, occupant. this is the future home of proclaimed justice, a brand new innocence project based in el iel and mumbella plan to open shupd

acquitted. >> i am real excited about that. lot of people that are in prison, little really hundreds of us still in there that don't got a john in their life.t john for them. >> reporter: and john, he plans to reap tire contracting business. once they called him the king of construction here in el paso. the thing he hoped to be remembered for. bank and met a woman. who gave him along with her ife. >> it would be probably the best thing i have ever done.our i spent on daniel's case, was worth it.now daniel is with his family. >> reporter: how many more hours and more pennies will depend on a decision not his to make. to daniel. john mimbela lived up to his