We Are Jane Doe E1: Ali’s Story
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What triggered the investigation into Ali’s case at the Central California Women’s Facility?
Snap Studios.
I'm Erlon Woods. I'm Nigel Poore. We are the hosts and creators of Ear Hustle from PRX's Radiotopia.
Ear Hustle is prison slang for eavesdropping, and that's what we do.
This season, we're hitting the yard at San Quentin to record the musicians who make that their stage.
And paying a visit to my homie Jack, who spent 35 years in solitary confinement.
There's also a story about trying to make friends with a person who tore your life apart.
Find Ear Hustle wherever you get your podcasts.
Now, we're bringing you a very, very special story. It started when a good friend of ours from across the KQED newsroom, the reporter Madi Bolaños, she got a tip. It came from the side of the woman's prison near where she'd grown up. Something big, very big had gone down. So Madi started looking into it. That tip led her and Snapchat's own Anna Sussman to an incredible story about prison, about power, about what happens when women start telling their secrets. Understand, this story does describe a sexual assault. So sensitive listeners, please take care. We're calling it. We are Jane Doe.
Okay. Can you introduce
yourself? I'm Alexandria Prowl and I'm Jane Doe number one. And I think referring to myself as Jane Doe number one was part of the privacy with such a high profile case.
This is the first time Alexandria, who goes by Allie, has told her story publicly.
I felt like I had no choice but to speak up. I knew I wasn't the only victim. I knew there was other victims. And I just felt like if I didn't speak up, this was going to continue. And by me speaking up, I was going to make a difference for other women.
Allie grew up in California, in the suburbs, outside of the state capital, Sacramento.
How did Ali’s first days in prison and the checkpoint encounter set the stage for later events?
She was the firstborn daughter in an immigrant family, so she was responsible and high-achieving.
I had self-esteem, you know, and I'm educated. I was a varsity cheerleader. I was homecoming queen. Like, I, you know, I'm a good mom.
After high school, she trained to work as a medical technician. She had three kids. But things with her ex went really bad. And in late 2021, she says she was in the midst of an ugly custody battle when the police showed up at her door.
I'm holding my six-week-old daughter. They say, Ms. Prout, we have two felony no-bail warrants for you. We need to take you into custody. So my mom's there. I remember just kissing and smelling my daughter, handing my daughter to my mom, and they cuffed me and took me into custody.
She was charged with felony stalking in violation of a restraining order for sending threats over text in the heat of that custody battle. Her crime isn't what our story's about, so we're not going to spend a lot of time on it. But what you need to know is that... It was a nonviolent offense.
I was sentenced to three years in prison. What do you remember about the process of going to prison? I remember the drive. When we finally get there, we get off the bus. They unshackle us. They make you get naked and they put these big moomoos on you, like these huge moomoos gowns. And then they like check you. They make you go through a body scanner and then they give you your oranges and then they give you these black and white platform looking shoes. They give you everything you're going to need for your cell and you sit there for hours. And then finally you line up against the wall and they march you out on the yard
and The Central California Women's Prison near Chowchilla, California, is this massive, sprawling complex of housing units connected with interlocking hallways, checkpoint gates and lifeless brown yards surrounded by miles of barbed wire. About 2,000 people are locked inside, making it one of the largest women's prisons on Earth. Allie was taken to A-Yard, which is for prisoners who've just arrived. And I just
remember we were freezing. We were hungry. I think I dropped 20 pounds on a yard.
There were narrow metal bunk beds, a toilet, and a shower with up to eight women assigned to a cell. And I remember
all we had in that cell was a Bible. And so we would take turns reading the Bible out loud to one another.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What triggered the investigation into Ali’s case at the Central California Women’s Facility?
0:02–2:30
2
How did Ali’s first days in prison and the checkpoint encounter set the stage for later events?
2:30–6:12
3
What exactly happened during the assault by Officer Gregory Rodriguez in the BPH room?
6:12–11:23
4
How did Ali protect the “ducats” (pass documents) and why were they crucial?
11:23–17:21
5
What role did Katrina Cameron play in Ali’s survival and the emerging prison‑wide network?
17:21–22:26
6
How did Ali’s unexpected parole hearing unfold and what did she discover about her release?
22:26–27:58
7
What were the legal and systemic repercussions after Officer Rodriguez’s arrest?
27:58–30:38
8
How did the survivors’ town‑hall meetings and lawsuits change the prison’s handling of sexual assault?
30:38–30:56