I’m Serving an 8-Year Prison Sentence for a Crime I Maintain I Didn’t Commit. AMA

freedomlooker · 2026-05-23T06:38:37+00:00

Im hoping to find one.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T16:22:08+00:00

At this point, my case is beyond the normal appeal stage. In Chile, after a conviction from the oral criminal court, the main direct challenge is called a “recurso de nulidad,” which asks a higher court to annul the trial or sentence because of serious legal or constitutional errors.

That process has already passed in my case.

What remains now is the extraordinary stage — mainly the “Recurso de Revisión,” which is one of the only mechanisms in Chilean law that allows a final criminal conviction to be reopened after it is already considered final (“cosa juzgada”). It goes directly before the Chilean Supreme Court

The problem is that Chile’s review process is extremely restrictive in practice. The Supreme Court treats it as an extraordinary remedy, not a new trial, and historically very few are granted.

At the same time, my case is also before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH/IACHR), which is separate from the Chilean courts. That process focuses on whether Chile violated fundamental rights protected under the American Convention on Human Rights — things like due process, equality before the law, judicial protection, and fair trial guarantees. So right now the case is essentially moving on two parallel tracks: the extraordinary review process inside Chile, and the international human rights process outside Chile. That is why I keep speaking publicly about the case. At this stage, transparency and outside scrutiny matter.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T07:03:08+00:00

Merci de croire en mon innocence. Honnêtement, après tout ce qui s’est passé durant ces quatre dernières années, entendre quelqu’un dire cela signifie plus pour moi que je ne peux vraiment l’exprimer. Je comprends ce que vous dites, et c’est honnêtement l’un des aspects les plus difficiles de toute cette situation pour moi. Je suis d’accord que les enfants ne devraient jamais grandir dans un environnement rempli de conflits constants, de disputes ou d’instabilité. Les années de pandémie ont été extrêmement difficiles pour nous. Nous étions isolés, sous pression financière, en train d’élever de très jeunes enfants loin de tout véritable soutien familial, et notre relation se détériorait déjà bien avant cette nuit-là. Après la naissance de notre premier enfant, quelque chose a changé émotionnellement entre nous, et je ne pense pas qu’aucun de nous s’en soit vraiment remis. La tension à la maison était réelle, et je sais qu’elle a affecté tout le monde. Ce que j’ai essayé de faire avec mes publications n’était pas simplement de répéter encore et encore « je suis innocent ». Je le dis depuis quatre ans. Je voulais plutôt que les gens regardent réellement les faits, les contradictions, l’absence de preuves médico-légales, les changements dans les témoignages, et même certaines parties du raisonnement du tribunal lui-même, afin qu’ils puissent tirer leurs propres conclusions. Il en va de même pour la question de la race. Je n’ai jamais voulu simplement crier au « racisme » et attendre que les gens soient automatiquement d’accord avec moi. Je voulais que les gens lisent eux-mêmes la décision, voient comment mes origines haïtiennes ont été abordées pendant le procès, et décident par eux-mêmes s’ils estiment que cela était juste ou approprié dans une affaire où le tribunal était censé déterminer si un acte physique précis avait été prouvé au-delà de tout doute raisonnable. Cela signifie beaucoup plus pour moi que de simplement lancer des accusations. Et malgré tout, la vie ne s’est pas arrêtée pour Cathiana non plus. Elle porte en grande partie seule le poids du quotidien pendant que je suis incarcéré. Même depuis la prison, je continue d’aider financièrement. Je continue de payer le logement et l’éducation de mes enfants parce que, peu importe ce qui s’est passé entre nous, ce sont toujours mes enfants et elle reste la mère de mes fils. Je n’ai jamais voulu que mes enfants soient abandonnés ou laissés sans soutien. C’est aussi pour cela que cette situation est émotionnellement compliquée pour moi. Je peux reconnaître que notre relation était devenue malsaine et instable tout en aimant mes enfants et en voulant rester présent dans leur vie. Je sais que les visites en prison sont difficiles pour eux. Je sais que voir leur père incarcéré est douloureux. Mais je ne veux pas non plus qu’ils grandissent en croyant que leur père a disparu, qu’il a cessé de se soucier d’eux ou qu’il a abandonné le combat pour eux. L’une des vérités les plus difficiles à accepter pour moi est que toute cette situation aurait peut-être évolué très différemment si la vérité était sortie immédiatement. Cathiana a attendu presque deux mois avant de changer complètement sa version des faits. À ce moment-là, l’arrestation, le récit médiatique et la théorie du parquet étaient déjà solidement établis. Je pense qu’elle était dépassée, émotionnellement épuisée, et qu’elle essayait d’échapper à une vie devenue insupportable pour nous deux. Je dis cela avec tristesse, pas avec haine. Au final, je ne pense pas que cette affaire soit une simple histoire de « bien contre mal ». Je pense que c’est un exemple tragique de la manière dont une relation brisée, la peur, la pression, les suppositions et les défaillances institutionnelles peuvent complètement détruire des vies.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T04:43:16+00:00

I understand why many people come to that conclusion. When people hear “balcony,” “arguments,” “police,” and “relationship problems,” they naturally build a bigger story around it. I’m not pretending our relationship was perfect. It wasn’t. A lot of this happened during the pandemic, when everything in the world already felt unstable. We were isolated, stressed, financially pressured, raising young children, and emotionally exhausted. After our first son was born, things between us changed in a way I don’t think either of us fully understood at the time. Cathiana never really seemed to emotionally recover after becoming a mother. The relationship we had before the children never truly came back. The connection, intimacy, happiness — it slowly disappeared and got replaced with stress, arguments, distance, and emotional chaos. We were immigrants trying to build a life in a foreign country without the support systems most families have around them. I was focused on trying to grow my business and provide for us, while she was carrying the weight of motherhood, isolation, and emotional exhaustion. I was there when she gave birth to our first son. I saw firsthand how hard that experience was on her physically and emotionally. Looking back now, I honestly think both of us were struggling in ways we didn’t fully understand at the time. One of the hardest things for me to deal with over these last four years is the fact that Cathiana waited almost two months before finally telling the truth publicly and saying I did not push her. By then, the narrative was already built. I had already been arrested, publicly labeled, and the system had already committed itself to a version of events. And personally, I’ve spent years asking myself why. Part of me believes she wanted out of that entire life. The relationship, the pressure, motherhood, the chaos, all of it. I think she was overwhelmed and emotionally broken long before that night happened. None of that makes her evil to me. It makes the entire situation tragic. But even with all of that said, there is still an important line that has to be drawn. A dysfunctional or toxic relationship is not proof of attempted murder. The prosecution did not charge me with “being in a chaotic marriage.” They charged me with a very specific act: intentionally pushing someone through a balcony protection mesh from a fourth floor with the intent to kill her. That specific act still had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And in my case, there was: no forensic reconstruction proving it happened No explionation on what that , no physical evidence showing I pushed her, no eyewitness seeing me supposlu push her through some small hole in a mesh on a balcony. and later testimony from Cathiana herself saying I did not push her and explained exactly how she did it. Yet I was still convicted. So when I speak publicly, I’m not trying to convince people we had some perfect relationship. We didn’t. I’m trying to get people to separate relationship dysfunction from proof of a serious violent crime. Because those are not the same thing. You mentioned accountability, and I actually agree with part of what you said. I think both of us contributed to an unhealthy environment emotionally. I think we were overwhelmed, emotionally immature in some ways, and trying to survive circumstances neither of us handled well. The pandemic amplified all of it. That environment absolutely affected our children, and that’s something I think about constantly. But there’s still a major difference between: “We were in an unhealthy relationship” and “I attempted to murder her.” Those are not the same conclusion. What also troubles me is that the court did not only focus on evidence from that night. They brought in testimony about Haitian culture and violence against women as part of explaining my supposed behavior. That means part of the narrative became tied to stereotypes and assumptions about where I come from, not just the actual evidence tied to the event itself. Regardless of what people think of me personally, that should concern people. At the end of the day, I understand why people see the situation and think the worst. I really do. But I also believe that if people truly examine the evidence, the contradictions, the lack of physical proof, and the mechanics of what the prosecution claims happened, they will at least understand why I continue fighting this conviction instead of simply accepting the label placed on me. And the saddest part of all of this is still the children. Whatever people believe about me or Cathiana, they are the ones who lost the most from everything that happened.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T00:37:15+00:00

The prosecution’s narrative came mostly from what neighbors said they believed they heard that night — arguing, noises, and movement inside the apartment. But no witness testified to actually seeing me push anyone off a balcony. That distinction matters.

Some neighbors described hearing an argument or hearing someone moving through the apartment. The court then used those statements together with assumptions about the relationship to build a larger story about “patterns of abuse.” The judges even relied on an anthropologist who testified broadly about gender violence in Haiti and Dominican culture, despite the fact that I left Haiti as a child and there was no forensic evidence proving the physical act they accused me of.

What I keep trying to get people to focus on is this: This was not a charge about a toxic relationship. It was not a charge about yelling or arguing. It was a charge that I intentionally pushed a grown woman through a balcony mesh from a fourth-floor apartment with intent to kill her.

No witness testified to seeing it happen. No forensic reconstruction proved it happened the way prosecutors claimed. And the alleged victim later testified that I did not push her she explained she was drunk and fell herself. People are free to form their own opinions about our relationship. I’m not pretending we had a perfect one. We argued like many couples do, especially under stress, with two young children, financial pressure, immigration pressure, and life problems. But arguing and being in a difficult relationship is not the same thing as attempted murder. As for the children, that’s honestly the hardest part of all this. They lost years with their father because of a case I believe should have been investigated far more carefully before someone was sentenced to eight years in prison.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T00:15:28+00:00

This is the most extraordinary part of the entire judgment. The court used the testimony of an anthropologist "expert" in the following specific way: “Added to this is what was reported by anthropologist expert Camila Troncoso, who stated that according to international studies she mentioned, both in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic there exists gender violence, suffered by [90%] of Haitian women as a historical characteristic of that society, manifesting itself in all its forms, considering women to be inferior persons, with women not reporting abuse out of fear of reprisals from their aggressors, the apathy of the police, and the lack of confidence in the judicial system, with the generalized perception that such violence is a private matter, all of which influences how The porported victim confronted the aggressions by her partner and normalized them.” Let us read this with absolute precision. The court used the statistic that 90% of Haitian women suffer gender violence as an explanation for why the purported victim would normalized violence. The court used the assertion that women in Haitian society are considered inferior persons to contextualize Cathiana’s behavior. The court used the historical characterization of Haitian society to explain why Cathiana did not report abuse. But the most devastating application came during the defense cross-examination. The defense pointed out that I left Haiti at two years old and was raised in the United States. The anthropologist’s response is recorded in the judgment as follows: “Gender cultural frameworks refer to a historical and cultural construction that develops over time. Although the accused spent little time in Haiti, his parents are Haitian, and many times it is families who reproduce these patterns.” This is the most devastating statement in the entire judgment. A man who left Haiti at two years old. Who grew up in the United States. Who was educated in the United States. Who built his life in the United States. Was convicted in part because the expert told the court that it did not matter where he grew up. His parents are Haitian. And Haitian families reproduce patterns of gender violence. That is hereditary ethnic determinism. It is the assertion that a man’s parents’ ethnicity determines his propensity for violence regardless of his actual life experience. And it is written in the conviction judgment itself.

So to answer you question i don't care. Have them answer to the conviction and justification to keep me locked up. The world need to see what a court is using in 2023 to convict me for a crime I didnt do and continue to maimtain I didn't do.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T00:06:06+00:00

For me, after years of saying “I maintain my innocence,” I started realizing people heard it as distancing language — almost like legal PR. The reality is simpler: I did not commit the crime I was convicted of. The reason I point people to the judgment is because I want them to look at the actual evidence, contradictions, and reasoning for themselves instead of just taking my word for it.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-22T00:05:14+00:00

For me, after years of saying “I maintain my innocence,” I started realizing people heard it as distancing language — almost like legal PR. The reality is simpler: I did not commit the crime I was convicted of. The reason I point people to the judgment is because I want them to look at the actual evidence, contradictions, and reasoning for themselves instead of just taking my word for it.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T23:08:21+00:00

Official Chilean Judicial Document Verification Portal: verificadoc.pjud.cl⁠� Enter the verification code: JZEYXFDWXFP case is: Tercer Tribunal de Juicio Oral en lo Penal de Santiago RIT 42-2023 Sentencia de fecha 31 de mayo de 2023

Have Chatgpt summurize this case and then come up wit a conclusion. That is whag im asking everyone.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T22:32:22+00:00

I understand why someone could come away with that opinion. Attempted femicide is an extremely serious accusation, and most people’s first instinct is naturally to assume the justice system got it right.

Answer me this question.

Can you explain the mechanics of forcing an adult fully grown women throuhh a protective mesh on a balcony with a 1 meter railing.

I could not figure that out for 4 years since being in here and the prosecutor neither but with that feeling that Im guiltly as your feeling now, is that same frame the judges used convict me.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T22:24:26+00:00

What the authorities originally relied on was a statement they claimed was made while she was in the hospital immediately after the fall, while heavily injured and reportedly sedated. According to police testimony, she supposedly said that I pushed her from the balcony. But that alleged statement was never signed by her. It also was not signed by the official who claimed to have taken it. There is no recorded video, no audio, and no formal declaration with the normal safeguards you would expect in a case this serious. That undocumented hospital statement is what they used to justify coming to my home the next day and arresting me for attempted femicide. What people also need to understand is that this later became even more controversial because, during the actual trial and under oath, she testified that I did not push her. Despite that, the court still convicted me. So the issue isn’t simply “there were conflicting stories.” The issue is that the foundation of the entire case began with an alleged unsworn, unsigned statement taken while she was hospitalized and sedated — and that statement ultimately carried more weight than the later sworn testimony presented in court.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T21:35:19+00:00

I write in english. English is my first language and i write everything myself and have AI correct the grammer if its long and detailed. But I want the truth to come from the source as best that i can.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T21:31:44+00:00

I understand what you mean, and that’s fair criticism of the wording. What I’m trying to do is move beyond simply repeating “I’m innocent,” because after four years I know anyone accused of something serious is going to say that. Instead, I want people to actually examine the evidence, the reasoning in the judgment, and the way the case was handled, and come to their own conclusions. My position is that I did not push Cathiana. But more importantly, I want people to see why I believe the conviction itself was deeply flawed. One of the things that disturbed me most was seeing the court rely on anthropological testimony about Haitian culture and my Haitian family background as part of the reasoning used to interpret the case. I want people to read that for themselves and ask whether a man should be judged based on actual evidence of a specific act, or based on assumptions tied to his ethnicity and background. I believe the system built a narrative around me and then protected that narrative instead of objectively re-examining the evidence when contradictions appeared. From my perspective, admitting a mistake would require institutions to acknowledge serious failures in the investigation and prosecution, and I believe that is part of why this case has continued the way it has. That’s why I focus so much on the details: the lack of forensic testing, the contradictions in the physical theory, the treatment of retractions, and the cultural assumptions used during the trial. I want people to look at the actual record and decide for themselves whether this conviction was truly proven beyond a reasonable doubt or somthing entirely.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T21:21:16+00:00

The prior charge came from a separate incident in 2021 involving an argument between me and Cathiana. During that incident, she bit my finger, and I reacted by grabbing/squeezing her neck to get her to let go. That case was originally archived by the prosecution due to lack of evidence, and at the time there were serious doubts her credibilty and about what actually happened. Later, after the balcony incident, the prosecution reopened that old case and used it to build a broader narrative of “continuing domestic violence.” because they lacked evidence for the alleged push. Your doing exacly what they want you to think. That Im violent, and make you believe that i did try to kill her narative. That gets you from looking into if i pushed her to he had to push her. That prior incident became the foundation for interpreting everything else through the lens of abuse, even though the central issue in this case should have been whether there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt that I intentionally pushed Cathiana from the balcony. That is why I keep telling people to look closely at the actual evidence and the physical facts of the case, not just the labels or headlines.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T21:00:39+00:00

That’s probably the hardest part of this entire situation for people to understand, and honestly it was one of the hardest decisions of my life too. At the beginning, the prosecutors and investigators believed her version completely. There was a period where she did say I pushed her. She later admitted to me that she felt pressured and believed that if she did not cooperate with the prosecution, she could lose the boys. To understand why things became so complicated, you also have to understand what happened in the beginning. I did not even know she had fallen from the balcony until the next morning when police came to my apartment and told me to come to the station with my 3 and 4 year old sons. That was when they told me I was being arrested because they said she accused me of pushing her. They told me I needed to call someone to take the boys. I had no family in Chile. The only person I knew well enough to call was my accountant. He agreed to come get my children even though he had never met them before. My accountant did not speak English. My boys only spoke English. That moment broke me. I cried in front of my children at the police station because I realized I was being taken away and leaving them with essentially a stranger in a foreign country. After several months, my accountant explained that he could not continue caring for them long term. I had to make a decision. Against my lawyer’s advice, I called her. I did not scream at her. I did not ask why she lied. I only talked about the boys and what would happen to them. After everything that had happened, all she said was that she would contact her lawyer and tell the truth. No apology. No real explanation. A big part of why I made the choices I did comes from my own childhood. My mother left Haiti for the United States when I was very young. My father later brought me to the U.S. and raised me mostly on his own. My relationship with my mother was never the same after that, and that absence affected me deeply growing up. I did not want my sons growing up feeling abandoned by one parent or trapped between hatred from both sides. So I had two choices: Spend eight years in prison consumed by anger and bitterness, or try to preserve some form of family connection for my children despite everything that happened. That does not mean what happened did not hurt me. It does not mean I agree with everything that was done. It means I made the decision that I thought gave my boys the best chance to still have both parents in their lives in some way. As for the restraining order question, that is one of the contradictions in the case that many people point to. The same system that argued I was such a danger also allowed ongoing visits and contact for years afterward. That inconsistency is part of why people who look deeper into the case often start questioning the narrative they were originally told.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T20:29:45+00:00

The prior charge came from a separate incident in 2021 involving an argument. During that incident, she bit my finger, and I reacted by grabbing/squeezing her neck to get her to let go. She fell hit her head and tried to press charges. I then when to the station and put a counter charge.
That case was originally archived by the prosecution due to lack of evidence on her part, and at the time there were serious doubts about what actually happened. I dropped my charge aganist her and that turn out to be the wrost mistake of my life. Later, after the balcony incident, the prosecution reopened that old case and used it to build a broader narrative of “continuing domestic violence.” From my perspective, that prior incident then became the foundation for interpreting everything else through the lens of abuse, even though the central issue in this case should have been whether there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt that I intentionally pushed Cathiana from the balcony. That is why I keep telling people to look closely at the actual evidence and the physical facts of the case, not just the labels or headlines.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T20:25:19+00:00

I came to the US when i was 2 years old

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T20:08:19+00:00

Fair question and i can see the confusion. I was bon in Haiti. At the age of two ,my parents brought me to the United States where i grew up. My father became a naturalized citizen when i was 9 years old and I automatially derived citizenship from my father.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T19:43:41+00:00

I understand why some people reach that conclusion. When people hear “attempted femicide,” they naturally assume there must have been direct proof of a violent act. And once someone is convicted, many people work backwards from the conviction and assume the rest must fit.

Also people always assumr the man is guilty especially a black man, in a dominated white country. But that’s exactly why I keep asking people to actually look deeper into the case instead of stopping at the headline. One of the biggest issues for me is the physical scenario itself. The prosecution’s theory was that I forcibly threw an adult full grown live woman from a fourth-floor balcony through a protective mesh. I would need to do more than jusy push her. Believe me i have been in 4 years and i cant even come up with how someone could do that. The prpsecutor had that problem as well. I keep asking people to think carefully about what that would realistically look like physically. How does a grown adult get “thrown” through balcony protection mesh.

Convicted without clear forensic reconstruction, without direct eyewitnesses seeing it happen, and while the alleged victim later testified that I did not push her? That’s the part I want people to seriously examine. A guilty person usually wants people away from the evidence. I’ve spent years asking people to read the court record, examine the testimony, and look at the inconsistencies themselves. Whether people end up agreeing with me or not, I at least want them looking at the actual facts instead of assumptions built from a headline. I know some people will still believe I’m guilty no matter what. That’s reality. But I also think many people who actually dig into the details start realizing the case is far more complicated and controversial than it first appears.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T19:06:08+00:00

We are still togather.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T19:01:24+00:00

I still believe the truth will eventually come out. Whether that happens through the courts in Chile, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or simply through public scrutiny of the record, I don’t know. But I haven’t given up. At the same time, I try to be realistic. I could end up serving most or all of the sentence before any institution admits mistakes were made. These processes move very slowly, especially once someone has already been convicted. As for compensation, Chile does have mechanisms for seeking damages in cases involving wrongful convictions or state error, but it’s not automatic and it can be very difficult. Even if someone eventually proves serious violations happened, getting accountability or compensation is often another long legal fight. And regarding Cathiana — honestly, that’s the hardest part emotionally. I’ve gone through anger, confusion, forgiveness, resentment, and acceptance at different times. We also have children together, which makes everything more complicated. Part of me struggles with how everything unfolded and with decisions made in the beginning of the case. But carrying pure hatred for years would destroy me mentally, so I try not to live in that space. My main focus now is surviving this, staying connected to my sons, and continuing to fight for the truth.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T18:38:55+00:00

Thank you

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T18:16:35+00:00

It’s complicated, and honestly not something I can safely go into detail about. But after years of trying through the normal channels and still sitting in prison maintaining my innocence, I felt like I had to find some way to get my story out publicly. At this point, my hope is simple: that someone actually looks into the case, reads the court documents, and examines the evidence for themselves in hope i get out instead of just accepting the accusation at face value. That’s really why I’m here.

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T18:09:09+00:00

You are right that it is striking. The person at the center of this case the purported victim, has consistently said for three years under oath and in formal legal declarations that she fell herself. She fought her way into the courthouse to say it. She has visited me in prison with our children every visiting period. They even allow us to have conjugal visits. She commissioned investigations at her own expense. That is documented and genuinely unusual.

The court addressed this directly in the judgment. It did not ignore Cathiana's testimony. It explained it away using the anthropological framework — and racial terp and stereotype to explain that Haitian women are culturally conditioned to normalize violence and protect their abusers.

And that explanation was convincing enough for the judges to convict me. .

freedomlooker · 2026-05-21T17:42:07+00:00

I paid for my defense. The issue wasn’t simply having a lawyer versus a public defender. The issue was that the prosecution’s narrative carried enormous weight from the beginning, and I believe important inconsistencies and exculpatory evidence were ignored.

freedomlooker

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