Justice denied for decades
Documentary details homophobia, hysteria and trial misconduct in case from the 1990s.
Deborah S. Esquenazi’s documentary “Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four” tells a miscarriage of justice tale that practically bursts with societal issues to address: homophobia, socioeconomic inequality, child abuse, trial misconduct, tabloid hysteria, junk science and innocence advocacy. For nearly half their lives, a quartet of Latina lesbians — Anna Vasquez, Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera and Kristie Mayhugh — have fought convictions for gangraping two of Ramirez’s nieces, ages 7 and 9 at the time of the alleged abuse in the 1990s. Though its chronological organization and issue management are rough, Esquenazi’s passionately argued film — built on interviews with the Texas women and footage of their post-parole-release efforts to exonerate themselves — convinces that the charges are impossible to believe, yet that a perfect storm of ’90s panic surrounding gay intolerance, satanic-ritual claims and iffy scientific evidence could turn a shaky case into a slam dunk.
We see one of the nowadult accusers recant her testimony, and the Innocence Project of Texas does wonders on behalf of the women, but the movie ends with their lives still in limbo. Seeing Ramirez, however, who earned the longest sentence — 37½ years — warmly greet her grown niece is emotionally powerful enough to make one think that the overarching theme of “Southwest of Salem” is the moving resilience of the wrongfully persecuted.