press release

September 10, 2024
Media Contact - H/Advisors Abernathy: JarvisMedia@h-advisors.global
Press Kit: https://www.freejarvis.org/press-kit

Federal ruling on wrongful-conviction case galvanizes support for Jarvis Masters

U.S. District Court denies habeas petition, sets up appeal to Ninth Circuit

Jarvis Jay Masters vowed to continue his lifelong pursuit of justice and exoneration following a U.S. District Court ruling in his wrongful-conviction case after serving more than 34 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit. On September 3, 2024, the District Court denied Masters’ habeas petition, underscoring the systemic challenges of exoneration for wrongly imprisoned individuals, despite significant evidence supporting Masters’ innocence and deep flaws in the case. Masters’ legal team vowed to appeal the ruling.

“I was hopeful, but I had also prepared myself emotionally for yet another legal hurdle in securing my freedom,” said Masters, who has consistently maintained his innocence, including throughout 24 years of appeals. “At these moments especially, I think of the many other wrongfully incarcerated individuals whose fates are at the mercy of our criminal justice system.”

The 62-year-old Buddhist and renowned author spent more than half of his life on death row at San Quentin State Prison and was recently transferred to Sierra Conservation Center, a California correctional facility in Tuolumne County, where he remains condemned to die for a crime he did not commit. Masters asserts that violations of his constitutional rights during his California state-court trial led to a wrongful conviction. The significant errors and misconduct that plagued Masters’ initial trial were presented comprehensively to a federal court for the first time, as captured in August 2022 and September 2022 filings as well as the November 2020 habeas petition.

“We knew this battle for Jarvis’ exoneration from death row would not be easy, but we remain confident in the strength of our evidence and legal arguments,” stated Michael F. Williams, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, a highly regarded international law firm handling the case pro bono. “This ruling only further invigorates our efforts. We will seek to appeal our case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and will not rest in our efforts to secure freedom for an innocent man.”

Among the key pieces of exculpatory evidence in Masters’ case: a confession by another inmate that the jury never heard, damaging trial testimony by key witnesses who all subsequently recanted, and prosecutorial misconduct in withholding key information. While the man who ordered the crime and the man who carried out the murder both received sentences of life in prison without parole, Masters was the only one who received the death penalty, for allegedly fashioning the weapon used in the murder.

Last week’s ruling galvanized many of Masters’ decades-long advocates, who said they will continue to boost public awareness of his case and its broader implications, including for those who are innocent behind bars across the country.

“After this setback, it’s important to get the word out about Jarvis’ story. People must be informed about the grave miscarriage of justice in this case and demand that Masters, who’s innocent and yet has been on death row for 34 years, be freed,” said David Sheff, author of Buddhist on Death Row, a book about Masters.

Masters suffered severe violations of his civil and constitutional rights and was 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 a man who confessed to Jarvis’ role in 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, focusing on the fact that the statements were made by the perpetrator over a year after the murder, excluded them as hearsay.

The other two men convicted in the case confirmed Masters was not a participant.
The prosecution’s three key witnesses later admitted they testified against Masters in exchange for leniency in their own cases and each recanted their testimony.
During Masters’ initial appeal in 2011, a special referee appointed by the California Supreme Court dismissed these recantations, arguing that the 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.

“It remains deeply concerning that essential witnesses were deemed credible enough to wrongly convict Jarvis in his original trial, but were not deemed credible during his California state appeal when they no longer had anything to gain by recanting,” said Williams.

Masters and his many supporters underscore that continued efforts to exonerate Masters are not intended to diminish the gravity of 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 was stripped of a lifetime of freedom and opportunity and, yet, found ways 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 and Buddhist Summit, and recently consulted for the Compassion Prison Project.

“I am profoundly moved and heartened by the kindness of so many individuals I’ve never met. Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how grateful I am and how your support will continue to help me get through, day by day,” 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 2022 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.

“I believe that he is absolutely innocent of this crime,” Winfrey told The L.A. Times in 2022. “My position is: Don’t even believe me when I say I believe that he’s innocent. Open up the case because it doesn’t make sense. All the facts don’t line up. And if you are a person who’s in charge of wanting to make sure that justice is served, that’s what you want to happen.”

Kirkland & Ellis is providing pro bono legal representation to Masters, while H/Advisors Abernathy is providing pro bono strategic communications support.