The Innocence Files season 1, episode 4: The Murder of Donald Sarpy

Episode 4 of Netflix series The Innocence Files: Franky Carrillo

At 18 years of age, Franky Carrillo was faced with two life terms for the 1990 murder of Donald Sarpy in Los Angeles, California. The Innocence Files very quickly paints a picture wherein L.A. County Sheriff Deputy Craig Ditsch drove the case against Mr. Carrillo. This episode looks into the backstory of Carrillo and asks how he got in trouble.

Growing up in Lynwood, California, Franky Carrillo was impacted by violence, like so many others. He says that, when he was 16, his sister married into the Young Crowd gang, and he acquired the nickname of Little Spider. As the story unfolds, we meet Scotty Turner, a member of the rival N-Hood Crip gang.

The Innocence Files digs deeper

The Deputy District Attorney of L.A. County, Juan Mejia, immediately thought it was a retaliatory shooting by the Young Crowd. It was not very long before Franky became a suspect, but why did Scotty Turner identify him? It appears that his gang affiliation led to many assumptions. In fact, according to Carrillo, he was attacked by a probation officer who was Donald Sarpy’s friend, even though the evidence against Mr. Carrillo was practically nonexistent.

Deputy District Attorney Brentford Ferreira offers some background, including that there were over 1,000 unsolved gang murders at the time. Frank was perhaps targeted for his Young Crowd affiliation, regardless of the evidence, as they simply wanted to convict some gang member for the crime. The Innocence Files also sheds light on a gang within the L.A. Sherriff’s Department itself, which many people might not be aware of.

The Vikings and the “6-pack” setup

The Vikings are considered a white supremacist gang within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. According to The Innocence Files, Deputy Ditsch was himself a Viking. In fact, when interviewed he indicates they were nothing scandalous. Of course, others might disagree, and such affiliation may be relevant to this case.

According to this series, Franky Carrillo was convicted because Scotty Turner was given a “Young Crowd” gang book and picked his face out of the lineup. Then he was shown a much smaller collection of 6 pictures — called “the 6 pack” — featuring the same photo of Carrillo paired with 5 other faces. The implication: If he picks Carrillo out again, he must be guilty. However, was it scientific?

Eyewitness testimony — How reliable is it?

If you’ve watched true-crime series or read true crime articles and books, you will already know that eyewitness testimony is often unreliable, as well as lineups. By the time of his 1991 pretrial, Franky Carrillo was being prosecuted by Mary Ann Escalante based almost solely on face identification (by Scott Turner and a few others).

Looking back on the trial, Franky also says his own lawyer, Robin Yanes, barely even spoke to him — which is even weirder in a case with no physical evidence, where there could have more easily been reasonable doubt and therefore a won case.

June 22, 1992 trial

Though Escalante emphasized the face recognition angle, Scott ended up coincidentally meeting Carrillo in a holding cell. While there, Scott said he knew Franky didn’t do the crime. In court, Scott Turner ended up recanting his testimony. At first, he says he testified incorrectly, but now he says Deputy Ditsch actually kept correcting him when he originally picked people. In other words, he alleges that he was being coached.

Was Franky Carrillo merely a random picture picked out from a gallery of faces? Additionally, Scott Turner was a witness on another case, which Ditsch neglected to tell the court about. In other words, Turner may have been a favored witness due to his willingness to identify suspects.

Ditsch, however, claims that gang members threatened Scott Turner and that’s why he recanted his earlier testimony. Does he have evidence for this, however? If he does, it’s not demonstrated on The Innocence Files.

June 30, 1992: Verdict

By emphasizing Franky’s gang affiliation and the face recognition witnesses, Mary Ann Escalante managed to get Franky Carrillo a guilty verdict. This was despite others testifying that Franky was not present at the scene of the crime. As we have seen in The Innocence Files, a guilty verdict does not in itself prove guilt, and what functions as evidence isn’t always particularly scientific.

What are your thoughts on The Innocence Files? Let us know in the comments!

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The Innocence Files season 1, episode 4 recap: The Murder of Donald Sarpy

By Wade Wainio | Jul 16, 2020