John Galvan, convicted in 1986 of starting a fire that killed two brothers, Guadalupe and Julio Martinez, spent over two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. In 2007, after about 21 years behind bars, he caught a rerun of the MythBusters episode “Hollywood Trial” on the prison TV, according to My Modern Met. What he saw sparked an idea that would ultimately help him challenge the evidence used to convict him and begin his journey toward freedom.
Man serving life sentence uses ‘MythBusters’ episode to go free – after 35 years in prison
It was a small detail in the popular show that helped him prove his innocence.
Wrongful incarceration is a serious issue in the United States, with studies suggesting that between 4% to 6% of people behind bars are innocent. Many of those wrongfully convicted come from marginalized communities, often due to a range of systemic issues like flawed police work, coercive interrogations, and insufficient technology for evidence analysis. DNA evidence has traditionally been the key to exonerating the innocent, but in one unusual case, it was an episode of the TV show MythBusters that played a pivotal role in overturning a conviction.
After 35 years in prison, John Galvan was able to prove his innocence by using evidence from a MythBusters episode. The episode proved a cigarette couldn’t ignite a Molotov Cocktail, which was a key factor in his case. pic.twitter.com/deXVTGQexo
— IGN (@IGN) October 12, 2022
In an effort to disprove Hollywood cliches, hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage attempted to scientifically replicate movie scenes. Galvan noticed them attempting to light a pool of gasoline with a cigarette and became immediately intrigued. The two came to the unpleasant realization that this popular action movie scene isn't actually attainable after their abject failure. Galvan immediately contacted his lawyer with an idea that would ultimately lead to his release.
John Galvan was two decades into a life sentence when he caught an episode of @Discovery's @MythBusters that renewed his hope. https://t.co/8WD4VVnTs1
— The Innocence Project (@innocence) October 7, 2022
In September 1986, a fire broke out in a two-flat apartment in Southwest Chicago. The fire resulted in the death of the brothers and their siblings Blanca and Jorge survived. They told the police that a woman had threatened to burn their house down. When the woman was questioned she revealed nothing but pointed her finger at Galvan.
Mr. Galvan, his brother, and Arthur Almendarez, Mr. Galvin's neighbor, were allegedly involved in lighting the fire, according to Jose Ramirez and Rene Rodriguez, two neighbors who were also questioned by police. Police finally detained Mr. Galvan and his brother in addition to Mr. Almendarez and his brother, despite the fact that Mr. Galvan had been sleeping at his grandmother's house the night of the incident and that there was no other evidence linking him to the fire.
In '86, John Galvan wrongly got a life sentence for throwing a cigarette into gasoline, igniting a building, killing 2.
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) October 9, 2022
In '07, he saw Mythbusters busting the Hollywood myth that a lit cigarette lights gas on fire & was finally exonerated 3 months ago!https://t.co/k0HQUbuSpu
The person in charge of the interrogation, Detective Victor Switski, shackled Mr. Galvan to a wall and then intimidated and questioned him for hours, putting pressure on the 18-year-old to accuse others of the murder so that he could go home, according to The Innocence Project. He also threatened Galvan with the death penalty if he didn't confess. After being beaten down by the detectives, all three young men eventually signed statements admitting guilt.
They insisted that Galvan had lit his Molotov cocktail with a cigarette and that the men had set the fire by throwing Molotov cocktails through the window. Galvan, who is now 39 years old, recognized that the MythBusters episode demonstrating that was illogical from a scientific standpoint may support his claim. Fortunately, Tara Thompson, a member of the Innocence Project, had also seen the same show, and together they started looking into the science of arson.
The Discovery Channel’s ‘MythBusters’ Helped John Galvan who a Wrongly Convicted of 35 Years Behind Barshttps://t.co/pDcWpnuROh#JohnGalvan #wrongfullyConviction #theDiscoveryChanne #MythBusters #TaraThompson #ExonerationProject #theUniversityOfChicago #LawSchool #PepUnlimited
— PepUnlimitedLLC (@PepUnlimited) October 12, 2022
Galvan regrettably had to wait another 10 years before being given a hearing on his post-conviction claims. However, Thompson was only able to finally deliver their findings to the court in 2017. They also produced seven witnesses, including one who claimed that the detective who had questioned Galvan had also tortured them, as well as an arson specialist who said that Galvan's confession was implausible. Despite this, the prosecutors denied that the science was correct.
Thompson said, "I find that very telling about the state of science and the law…that these things that we probably should accept as true in the legal space, the system does not always want to accept." Instead, he was forced to wait until 2022 to be released despite making numerous petitions. The convictions of the other two men, who had also been incorrectly found guilty of the crime, were likewise overturned at the same time. All three men are finally free after serving a total of 105 years in jail for a crime they did not commit.
Galvan has spent 35 years in prison for a crime that he wasn't linked to at all. He is now trying to adapt to the world and create a home for himself. Those who wish to help him do so can check out his Amazon wishlist and help him create a space of his own.
This article originally appeared 1 year ago.
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