Federal hearing scheduled for Jarvis Masters wrongful-conviction case

Masters continues fight for justice after more than three decades on San Quentin’s death row

After serving more than 32 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit, Jarvis Jay Masters has another chance at freedom. His case will go before the Northern District of California in late October as part of a federal habeas appeal for exoneration. The 60-year-old Buddhist and renowned author has spent more than half of his life on death row at San Quentin State Prison following a 1990 conviction in a case riddled with holes.

Masters argues that violations of his Constitutional rights during his California state court trial ultimately resulted in a wrongful conviction, and the federal court will have its first-ever opportunity to review the process of the state courts. Also new: The legal arguments in Masters’ appeal, including those made in the August filing requesting the Court grant his habeas petition, capture the depth and scope of misconduct and injustice that have marred his case from the beginning—and have been presented comprehensively to the Court.

“As I sit in this 9 by 4-foot cell, day in and day out, I keep waiting, hoping the courts will finally listen,” said Masters, who has consistently maintained his innocence, including throughout 22 years of appeals. “At the very least, I hope my story is a stark reminder that there are many innocent individuals behind bars. I am still fighting for my freedom but the problems in our justice system are much larger than one man.”

Among the many flaws in the case against Masters: a confession by another inmate that the jury never heard, damaging trial testimony by key witnesses who all subsequently recanted, questionable information presented as evidence while actual critical evidence was withheld, and prosecutorial misconduct on multiple levels. While the man who ordered the crime and the man who carried out the murder both received a sentence of life in prison without parole, Masters was the only one who received the death penalty.

“In my 21 years of practicing law as a trial lawyer on criminal matters, I have never seen such an egregious case of injustice,” stated Michael F. Williams, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, a highly regarded international law firm. “Exonerating Jarvis is the right thing to do not only legally but also ethically. Justice is not served until Jarvis is free.”

Masters has suffered severe violations of his civil and constitutional rights, while being deprived the opportunity to prove his innocence and present all the facts to a court. While serving time for armed robberies (crimes committed as a teenager for which he has admitted guilt and long since served his full sentence), Masters was accused of fashioning the weapon that another San Quentin inmate used to kill prison guard Sergeant Howell Burchfield in 1985.

Among the highly problematic aspects of the case that culminated in Masters’ death sentence:

Masters bore no resemblance to the eyewitness description of the man who was seen fashioning the weapon, but the man who confessed to the crime did. However, the jury never learned this key fact because that man later cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The trial court, harping on the fact that these statements were made by the perpetrator over a year after the murder, excluded them as hearsay.
The other men convicted in the case (the man who ordered the crime and the man who carried out the murder) confirmed Masters was not a participant.
The prosecution’s three key witnesses later admitted they testified against Masters in exchange for leniency in their cases and recanted their testimonies.
During Masters’ initial appeal in 2011, a special referee appointed by the California Supreme Court dismissed these recantations, arguing they witnesses lacked credibility. Ironically, these witnesses were deemed credible enough to testify at his initial trial, where Masters was sentenced to death, but not enough to subsequently help exonerate him.

Masters and his many supporters underscore that efforts to exonerate Masters are not intended to minimize the murder of Sergeant Burchfield or the suffering the crime has inflicted on the Sergeant’s family, friends, and colleagues. The continued incarceration of an innocent man, however, only further compounds the tragedy and denies true justice.

Masters has been stripped of a lifetime of freedom and opportunity and, yet, has still found a way to use his voice to speak to the world. Masters sits on the spiritual advisory council of the Human Kindness Foundation, has presented at the Black Buddhist Summit, and recently consulted for the Compassion Prison Project.

“No matter the outcome of my case, I am profoundly moved and heartened by the kindness of so many individuals I’ve never met, showing support in ways I could never have imagined. Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how grateful I am,” Masters said.

Masters is the internationally published author of That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row, a September Oprah’s Book Club pick, and Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke & Opened My Heart, as well as poems, short stories, articles, and essays. Masters believes sharing his story—from his childhood of poverty, neglect, and abuse to the mistakes he made and crimes he committed as a teen—will help others with similar struggles avoid the path he took.

Masters’ resilience—in the face of injustice—has inspired support from all corners of the world including global media leader and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, Buddhist teacher Ani Pema Chödrön, novelist and activist Anne Lamott, bestselling author David Sheff, the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Sister Helen Prejean.

“A little more than ten years ago, I was given a memoir by Jarvis Jay Masters, a man serving a death row sentence in San Quentin,” said Winfrey. “His story, of a young boy victimized by addiction, poverty, violence, the foster care system, and later the justice system, profoundly touched me then, and still does today, which is why I’m naming That Bird Has My Wings as my latest Oprah’s Book Club selection.”

“Oprah’s Book Club selection highlights Jarvis’ amazing story of grit and resilience, and lends an extra layer of visibility as this pivotal case moves through the federal courts in our efforts to bring justice to an innocent man,” Williams said.

Kirkland & Ellis is providing pro bono legal representation to Masters, supported by pro bono efforts of the strategic communications firm H/Advisors Abernathy.