1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Dear Governor, is a production of I Heart Media and 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:10,639 Speaker 1: three Months Media. Dear Governor Newsom, Dear Mr Governor Newsom, 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: this is an open letter to Governor Gavin Newsom. Dear 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: Governor Newsom, the spiritful said been launched out of the 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: sale door and into the sergeant's heart. Jarvis Masters on 6 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: the prison murder of Sergeant hal Birchfield on June, the 7 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: crime for which he was convicted of conspiracy to commit 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: murder and sentenced to death row. The reason why I 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: end up getting death row is because I didn't try 10 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: to defend myself. I thought that these guys are in trouble, 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: not me, you know. Oh hell no, I won't try 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: to defend myself. I say it to my lawyers. You 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: could not say anything because this is to do with us. 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: Do don't have nothing to do with us because these 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: guys they already know I didn't do it, Parry, No 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: I did. Those don't worry about it. Then if I 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: if I get involved in their business, they don't get 18 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: mad at me, and they may try to do something 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: to me, you know. And these guys are telling modern 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: lawyers this is none of you guys business, this of us. 21 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: He knows. We know Jarleston doing everyone knows Jarvis wasn't involved. 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: I mean, we had no idea. The murder happened on 23 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: the second tier right below me. That with the south 24 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: block in C section on the fourth tier and sell 25 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: to light above the office area before tears up of 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: the guards. They said that I sharpened the weapon and 27 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: sent it down to the guy who then made it 28 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: into a poll and spared the guard. That's how they 29 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: explained my involvement in it. When they got the opportunity, 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: they had prepared what we referred to as they San 31 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: Quentin spear, which is a newspapers and magazines that are 32 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: rolled very very tightly into a shaft, so tight and 33 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: so heavy that if it hits you on the head, 34 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: it would leave a boat under head. Daniel Vasquez was 35 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: warden and chief executioner in charge of San Quentin Security 36 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: Housing Unit when Sergeant Birchfield was murdered in nineteen Here 37 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: he is reflecting on his memory of the crime. They 38 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: had saw it off. I don't know how they did that, 39 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: but they saw off a piece of the bunk and 40 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: they fashioned it into a spear spear point and they 41 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: attached it to this uh shaft, you know, magazines and newspapers, 42 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: and they stabbed him through the cell bars. They hit 43 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: him in the heart. Jervis's memory on the night of 44 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: the murder, I remember hearing the alarm. It's the alarming 45 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: side set. He was right there that we all heard 46 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: alarm in the morning, and um, it only was a 47 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,839 Speaker 1: few more hours before daylight left thinking one I think 48 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: one guard came up. I was walking his tears and 49 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: they said he passed away. Have you known Sergeant brush 50 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: Field before he died? You know, I've seen him a lot. 51 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: You know what, I've seen him a lot. I don't 52 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: think I never we never got at you any words. No, 53 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: I he worked in that unit. And had you known 54 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: that that there was a conspiracy that was being coordinated 55 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: to kill him? Were you aware of that? No? I 56 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: wasn't a part of any of that. There was a 57 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: lot of violence. There was a lot of violence and 58 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: sad quitn at that time. Can you speak to the 59 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: Black Guerrilla Family because I know that they ultimately were 60 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: a signed with masterminding it. Who were they and what 61 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: was your association with them? I do not want to 62 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: speak about there, Okay, okay. According to court, documents. This 63 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: case involved a conspiracy by members of the prison gang 64 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: known as the Black Guerrilla Family to assault and kill 65 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: San Quentin prison staff and ultimately to foment war with 66 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: the other prison gangs. The conspiracy culminated in the murder 67 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: of Sergeant Birchfield, Black Guerrilla member, prison snitch and witness 68 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: for the state, Rufus Willis provided prosecutors with incriminating notes 69 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: also known as prison kites, confirmed to be in the 70 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: handwriting of Jarvis. Jarvis wrote the kite for Rufus, which 71 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: ultimately implicated him. Why do you think he did that? 72 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: Do you have a theory? I don't know that he did. 73 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Rockline, lead defense attorney for Jarvis's murder trial. That 74 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: was a big issue during during the trial. Weren't certain 75 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: about that. I think we took a position at the 76 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: trial that he wrote it, but he was asked basically 77 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: to copy somebody else's information onto what they call a kite, 78 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: you know, a note. Jarvis on his involvement in the 79 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: prison kite. What got me in trouble was the fact 80 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: that I copy a note what we call a kite 81 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: a prison for someone who was involved in the in 82 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: the murder. He was deeply involved. He was one of 83 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: the ones who made a deal with law enforcement, and 84 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,359 Speaker 1: law enforcement said, hey, if you go down there and 85 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: you get something in Master's hand, right, we will promise 86 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: you that you know another dame prison. So he says 87 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: me a no, and he says, I need you to 88 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: copy this because us I don't want it in my handwriting. 89 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: And two things hit me before I said yes. The 90 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: first thing was that I was not in good standing 91 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: with the group because toldy against what they were thinking about, 92 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: and I was just for sure what they decided what 93 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: they were thinking about, you know. Secondly, the online signed 94 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: it was because I wanted to know what it said. 95 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: I was just plenty four year okay or something like that, 96 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: and a guard had just been killed and he's given 97 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: me the right to copy something. Now. To me, that 98 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,600 Speaker 1: was a privilege to me, and my way of thinking 99 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: that was like, Wow, he trusts me to do this, 100 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: He trusts me to all this stuff, and for me 101 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: to keep my mouth shit about it. I thought it 102 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: was a privilege. I thought it was a good idea. 103 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: I thought he he chose me because he trusted me 104 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: more than anyone else. What did he have me right. 105 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: It was the full toil of everything that happened. Four 106 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: detail is everything that happened, from the way it was decided, 107 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: from the planning, from the weapon being moved from one 108 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: place to another, the whole BBC all the way up 109 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: to the DEATHO Sergeant first Field up next Jarvis on 110 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: what would compel him to copy the kites of another inmate. 111 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: Marine County Superior Court Judge Lynn Drury was appointed as 112 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: referee to review questions raised in jarvis Master's habeas petition. 113 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: At the thirteen day hearing, the referee heard expert testimony 114 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: from a prominent and esteemed forensic linguist, Dr Robert Leonard, 115 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: who argued that the kites that had been used against 116 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: Jarvis had been authored by someone other than Jarvis. He said, 117 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: quote the language of the kites, admittedly copied by Jarvis, 118 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: were not congruent with spelling and laying which he used 119 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: in numerous other notes and letters at the time. In 120 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: other words, they were copied by Jarvis verbatim from the 121 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: actual author. After hearing Dr Leonard's expert testimony, the referee 122 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: conceded that his evidence was compelling. Jarvis maintains that copying 123 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: kites in prison was commonplace for inmates back then. So 124 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: I asked warden Vasquez, is it common practice that that 125 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: inmate copy kites for other inmates copy kites? Yes, and 126 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,959 Speaker 1: and also passed them to the other inmates. It could 127 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: be It could be either way. Either the the inmate 128 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: who originator of the kite, you know, would have it 129 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: uh delivered to the inmate he intended to have it 130 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: delivered too, or you know, sometimes uh an inmate would 131 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: copy it. How did they pass the kite? How does 132 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: one kite get from one cell to another? It's usually 133 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: done by what they call a fish line. You know, 134 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: they'll they'll have a way of you know, swinging through 135 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,719 Speaker 1: the seal bar and and having it sitched out to 136 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: the next inmate. Is that why it's called the kite 137 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: because it has a fish line? No, No, it's just 138 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: it's just called the kite because it's a it's an 139 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: unofficial communication between inmates, and for some reason, they've always 140 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: called it a kite. What our copy was that? Um? 141 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: He said that I was a good member of the game. 142 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: And when I read that then I thought, wow, he 143 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: really trust me, because he said I lived up to 144 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: my part and you know, I was thinking straight up, 145 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: good soldier. And you know, when I read that part, 146 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: I just felt like, Wow, he's really supporting, he's really 147 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: caring about me. I honestly thought that the reason why 148 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: he asked me to copy it was because he trusts me. 149 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: And the comments he wrote in there was He even said, 150 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: when you read this, you'll see that I'm giving you 151 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: major props. So that shows you how much I care about, 152 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: how much I like you. I'm giving you major problems. 153 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: And I felt, wow, you know, I mean I was 154 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: I was like, I was like the happiest guy to 155 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: be join this for someone who had all the information 156 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:19,239 Speaker 1: of what just happened. He could have given it anybody 157 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: to you know, it was not like, you know, it 158 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: was a food for me to copy. Anybody would copy 159 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: that thing because everybody wanted to know exactly what happened. 160 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: Everyone wanted to know the details, and he gave me 161 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: a chance to earn the details. Anyway. I didn't know 162 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: he had already made a deal with law enforcement and 163 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: they sent him up there to get a note copy 164 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: from me, a detailed note. He was smart enough to 165 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: write the note, write the detail, and get me to 166 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: copy it. Because I copied it. I copied it, and 167 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: he turns it in to the law enforcement, and that's 168 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: the physical effidence they have against me. I was stupid. 169 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: I didn't know. I was totally on a whole another 170 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: different page than what his intentions were. I had no 171 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:15,559 Speaker 1: idea what was happening. But that said, that said, everybody 172 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: who was accused thought of rumored about. We're taken out 173 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: of that unit and placed in solitary confinement and the 174 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: adjustment center. And when the adjustment center was filled up, 175 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: they sent them to Folsom State Prison to isolate them. 176 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: They took a hole tire everybody in that area, anyone 177 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: they thought was involved in it. They took out of 178 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: that building and placed them in solitary confinement, deep in 179 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: the whole. Some places, they were so deep you can 180 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: barely hear the other guy. It was hollowed. He was 181 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: behind not just one door, but another door and then 182 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: another door. You were isolated completely. They took everyone out, 183 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: but they left me there. The man who posts had 184 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: a sharpened the weapon. The guy who posts they had 185 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 1: assented down to Johnson, the guy who's supposed to have 186 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: wrote a plan, a detailed plan of everything that happened, 187 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: everything that happened from A to Z in my handwriting, 188 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: and left me in that same cell. They left me 189 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: in that self for six months. And this guy supposed 190 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: to be the bad dude keep sposed to be the 191 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: one that start thempments, who were ready to kill guards, 192 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: who was ready to attack guards any minute now. They 193 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: yet they left me in that same sound. They let 194 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: me go to the yard that in that note that 195 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: they said it was planning that. They let me go 196 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: to the commissary, They let me get my visits, They 197 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: let me walk among the guards, They let me shower 198 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: on a cheer. In fact, they did nothing that they 199 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,319 Speaker 1: didn't give to the rest of the population. Two people, 200 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: three hundred people in that building. I was among everybody. 201 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: I went to the yard with everybody. Their whole response 202 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: to that type that I copied to them believing that 203 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: I shop in the weapon that Joe the guard, And 204 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: who's to say that I was going to sharpen more 205 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: weapons to kill more guards. They put in their guards 206 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: in jeopardy to think that I even sharpen the weapon, 207 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: to believe our sharpen the weapon. Why do you think 208 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: it took six months for them too? Because They knew 209 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: that was the guy who told me that to copy 210 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: the note. They knew it was a copy not They 211 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: had no intentions on charging me. They had no intentions 212 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: of putting me involved in that. They had none if 213 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: they had one eye, Oh, the intentions of believing that 214 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 1: those knights that I sharpened and I don't blow in 215 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: that July, I'll belong in a dungeon. I am just 216 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 1: as Jukie asked the guy who did it. Jarvis said 217 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: that for six months following the death of Sergeant haliburch Field, 218 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: he had zero reason to believe or even consider that 219 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: he was under suspicion for participating in the conspiracy to 220 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: commit murder. I asked how it was that he finally 221 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: found out that the powers that be intended to prosecute him. 222 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: When he finally fell charges, I was watching t V 223 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: and my face appeared on television. I said, oh shit, 224 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: you know, you know, we interrupt this program to say 225 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: we are charging you know, and I'm looking at me 226 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: and me looking at I. It was not a good thing. Wow. Yeah, 227 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: So that's how I know. I mean, I never I 228 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: was never part of the dragnet. You know. I was 229 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: never part of the interviews. I was never were part 230 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: of being transferred to another unit, being suspect for another unit, 231 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: and myself searched as if I was. You know, you 232 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: you're accusing the sharpen the weapon, and they don't search yourself. 233 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: They don't send you trthology confinement right they did any 234 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: more else. I knew those guys is in a lot 235 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: of trouble. You know. I feel sorry for them, you know, 236 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: I feel sorry for the old scene and next ago, 237 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: I'm looking at me on TV and I'm saying, Wow, 238 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: what the hill's going on? When that morning they came 239 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: and got me and threw me in a dungeon. Sergeant 240 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: Perchfield was stabbed in the heart in the hallway of 241 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: the second tier of the Carson Section of San Quentin. 242 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: The so called c Section. Court papers say this occurred 243 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: two stories beneath Jarvis, a cell, right outside the cell 244 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: of Andre Johnson, the man accused of the actual murder. 245 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: The weapon, the metal shift that the investigator said was 246 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: constructed from the bedpost, was never recovered. I wish they 247 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: would have found that weapon because that weapon would have 248 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: been my way out of here. I really believe if 249 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: they found that weapon, I would not been charged from her. 250 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: It's because they did not find it. They got me 251 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: in trouble. I that's my belief. If they found the 252 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: actual weapon, then they would have known somehow, fingerprints, something, anything, 253 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: would have said that it was not me that sharpen anything, 254 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: because you're sharpen it on the floor if you're going 255 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: sharpen it. And why didn't they go in myself and 256 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: see if myself had any scrapes on it. Well, here's 257 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: the thing, this is my always felt if they would 258 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: have found that weapon, they could have took the grooves 259 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: off that weapon and compared it to whatever group that 260 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: they may have seen me scratching it our sharpen it 261 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: on the floor. M I mean, that was my way 262 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: out because I knew that was not going to happen 263 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: that way. But they don't know where it's at. And now. 264 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: An open letter to Governor Newsom from Michael Satras, one 265 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: of the attorneys that represented Jarvis in the late nineteen 266 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 1: eighties throughout the murder trial that sent him to death row. 267 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:24,680 Speaker 1: Dear Governor Newsom, You're moratorium on executions in California reflects 268 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: the reality that there is no right person for the 269 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: state to kill but Jarvis is inestimably the wrong person, 270 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: singled out among the many charged defendants and uncharged co 271 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: conspirators to avenge the murder of Sergeant Birchfield in the 272 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: bowels of San Quentin. Jarvis was a pawn in the game, 273 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: even under the prosecution's theory of his guilt, neither the 274 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: actual killer nor the shot caller. Most ironic is that 275 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: at the time the judgment of death was pronounced upon him, 276 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,959 Speaker 1: Jarvis was also the only one who had demonstrably reformed 277 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: and changed himself, maturing from a sullen and angry young 278 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: revolutionary gang member into a thoughtful and caring individual who 279 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 1: had gained insight into himself and the world around him, 280 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: as well as a measure of peace and understanding. I 281 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: know this because I was appointed as his counsel shortly 282 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: after the capital charges were lodged against him, and literally 283 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: stood at his side more than three years later in June, 284 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: when the judge imposed the death penalty upon him, encouraging 285 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: him to express himself in writing, develop his spirituality, and 286 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: examine and reflect upon himself at the world around him, 287 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: his eyes and years and soul open to the world 288 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: both within him and without him, he soaked up all 289 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: that positive and expansive outflow like a sponge, so that 290 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: in the most unlikely circumstances of fighting for his life 291 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: from the deepest hole in which the state could bury him, 292 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: his humanity flowered. I have kept in touch with Jarvis 293 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: over the many years since then, periodically seeing him and 294 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: reading his books and talking to his supporters, and know 295 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: that he has steadfastly maintained and enlarged upon his rehabilitation 296 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: and pro social ways to become the remarkable human being 297 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: that he is today. One can only wonder who Jarvis 298 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: would have become had the state not used all its 299 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: resources to imprison him as a teenager and thereafter employed 300 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: the machinery of death against him, but instead had deployed 301 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: those resources in the name of his life at the outset, 302 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: addressing all the childhood trauma, deprivation, violence, oppression, and neglect 303 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 1: that was his unique experience growing up. Unquestionably, Jarvis is 304 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: the wrong person to execute, as the doubt of his 305 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: guilt that lingered at the time of judgment has only 306 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: gathered and grown stronger over the decades as exonerating evidence 307 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: and recantations accumulated. Ultimately the evidence is too uncertain and 308 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: changeable to support the weight of a judgment as certain 309 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:31,679 Speaker 1: and final as death, and has grown irresistibly stronger in 310 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: favor of life every day of the thirty five years 311 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: I have known Jarvis, respectfully submitted Michael Sattris next week 312 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: an epic five year trial that would end in the 313 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: death conviction for Jarvis and why he thinks he got 314 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,120 Speaker 1: the death sentence when the other two inmates, also accused 315 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: in the conspiracy, were given life without the possibility of pearl. 316 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: Today's episode is written and produced by Donna Fazzari and 317 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: myself Corny Cole. Our theme song sentenced as complements of 318 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,640 Speaker 1: the band stick Figure from that album Set in Stone. 319 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: Stu Sternboch Is composed the original music. Nate Defort did 320 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: the sound design. Visit Free Jarvis dot org to find 321 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 1: out more about Jarvis's case and to sign your name 322 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: to our Dear Governor Newsom petition and if you have 323 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: questions for Jarvis, please leave a message on our hotline 324 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,920 Speaker 1: at two zero one nine zero three thirty five seventy five. 325 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: That's two zero one nine zero three thirty five seventy five. 326 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: Dear Governor Newsom is a production of i heart Media 327 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: and three Months Media. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 328 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 329 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.