Will Shonbrun: Meet Jarvis Masters

His name is Jarvis Masters, and he has been on Death Row since 1990 for a crime he did not commit.  

Jarvis writes, “When I think about the fact that society, a nation, has sentenced me to death, all I can do is turn inside myself, to the place in my heart that wants so desperately to feel human, as if I have a purpose.” 

I have known Jarvis Masters for almost 35 years now, having met him when he was still a prisoner at San Quentin State Prison’s Death Row, and only recently transferred to California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo in late 2025, when Governor Newsom officially shutdown all Death Rows in California State Prisons. 

I initially met Jarvis through his writings published in the Buddhist-oriented Turning Wheel magazine, “Prison Writing: A Journal of Prisoners’ Writing and Writing About Prisoners.” 

I was struck by the poem he’d written, narrated in a point/counterpoint format, recalling the judge’s words he read at the time of his sentencing for death at the conclusion of his trial. It recounts the actual recipe for making booze from fermented orange peels, all the while with the running account of a man being sentenced to death, “said penalty to be inflicted within the walls of San Quentin, at which place you shall be put to death.” 

I had no idea at the time of reading his poem that he was an innocent man, which only came out later through the recanting of particular eyewitnesses, and testimony given as a pack of lies and a later admission of guilt of the said crime by another prisoner. 

But the power of the writing so grabbed me that I then wrote a letter to Jarvis and arranged, after a time, to meet and visit with him, which I have done for 30-plus years now. And so begins a remarkable story of the trials and tribulations of Jarvis Masters who, with not too much more than an 8th-Grade education, became a published author of two books, written and published while serving time for a crime he never committed. 

In brief, the story of Jarvis’ incarceration at San Quentin for more than three decades is a long and tortuously winding road, beginning at the age of five, when he was taken from his mother, and raised in a series of foster homes where he endured violence and trauma. The result was a child who became filled with hate, with no response to conflict except violence, and by the time he was nineteen years old he’d wound up in San Quentin in 1981, convicted of armed robbery. 

This is just the beginning of the story of Jarvis’ case and a set of bizarre circumstances, which all led up to his winding up on Death Row in 1985, convicted as having taken part in the killing of SQ officer Sergeant Howell “Dean” Burchfield. 

The complete and very detailed story about how all this occurred can be read on the website: www.freejarvis.org. Therein, lies a complete accounting of Jarvis’ case and all the interweaving circumstances and principal people and actions involved, including updates as late as January 23, 2026. 

However, at this juncture I want to bring to readers the names and personages of acclaim who have befriended and, over the course of years, taken up his case for freedom based on the compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted and is entirely innocent of the crime for which he was mistakenly convicted. 

Beginning with the renowned Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron, author of widely acclaimed books including, “When Things Fall Apart,” “Change Your Heart Toward Pain,” and “Three Kinds of Suffering.”  Pema Chodron, has become a treasured friend and ardent advocate for Jarvis. She writes, “I believe in Jarvis Master’s innocence. This is not simply because of my love for him, but certainly is based on having heard much of the evidence”. 

Two other writers of note have addressed Jarvis’ case. Rebecca Solnit wrote the article “Bird in a Cage,” in Harpers magazine. And David Sheff wrote the noted biography of Jarvis Masters, “The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place.”  Both of these writers have become staunch and outspoken advocates for Jarvis’ innocence and for his freedom. 

And then there is Oprah Winfrey who has strongly advocated for Jarvis for years now, and has been instrumental in publicizing Jarvis’ two published books: “That Bird has My Wings,” Jarvis’ memoir, and “Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke and Opened My Heart.” 

Not being a lawyer or having any legal training whatsoever, I can say that I’ve read all the habeas corpus information and documents pertaining to Jarvis Masters’ case, all the trial testimony, and all the recorded findings of the different appeals cases and pertinent appeals testimony. 

Now knowing all of this voluminous information, and having read all of the compiled and documented arguments and findings by prosecution and defense designees, including the recorded testimony of witnesses and trial experts in court, I can unequivocally say that I believe Jarvis to be totally innocent of all connection in the slaying of Sgt. Burchfield. 

And, yes, I make this claim as his friend and out of my love for him, and will add that I’ve found him to be one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever encountered in my lifetime of 84 years. And I will say without a shadow of a doubt that Jarvis Masters is and was an innocent man and his verdict was unjust.

I believe that any conclusive study of this case from any angle without prejudice beforehand will come to the same conclusion.