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Chapter 1: What led to Evaristo Salas Jr.'s exoneration after 27 years?
She ordered it, put the order in. She goes, I ordered it to be released. And she goes, he used to be released and shit a few times immediately.
Hello and welcome back to One Minute Remaining. My name is Jack Lawrence, the host and creator of this show. Today is the final part of the Evaristo Salas Jr. story as he says goodbye to a life behind bars and looks to his future and what comes next.
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In our last episode with Junior, he talked us through the week-long evidentiary hearing that would end unexpectedly in the prosecution essentially throwing their hands in the air and saying, we're done. They would put forward a motion for Junior's conviction to be squashed and for his immediate release after 27 years. And the judge agreed.
After that, it was only like a five, maybe 10-minute hearing. I heard my family and them start cheering and crying in the courtroom. And then we had a little kind of talk with my lawyer in a separate Zoom with them. And we were just cheering in there, you know what I mean? And they were kind of jumping up. And one of the lawyers was like, man, this has never really happened like this.
Usually we got to keep on battling and we go through it and we were all excited. And so we had thought that it was going to take maybe a week or a couple of days for it to, you know, to process the paperwork and all that stuff. So she goes, well, maybe it'll be like in two days. And I was like, well, yeah, probably next week or something. So we talked for about an hour. We were super excited.
My adrenaline was on jack. I was like, yeah. I mean, I wasn't even tired anymore after that, you know? And so on the way back, I'm telling every single person along the way, I just got exonerated. This is over. I'm out of here. I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'm out of here.
Some of the guards, I had two counselors or a counselor, one of my teachers came in and they all heard about it. And so it was spreading amongst the guards already. I was in my cell and they kind of just opened the doors like, hey, we heard you're out of here, right? And they came and gave me a hug and shook my hand and everything.
And then they leave and not even two hours later, they come down with the big old things like pack your stuff up, you're out of here.
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Chapter 2: How did Evaristo react to the news of his release?
And she's like, what do you mean you're out of there? I said, I'm getting released from the prison. She's like, are you sure? It was just like this. And I was just, we were going back and forth on it. And then I called my dad and my dad didn't even know. So my dad, they're at IHOPs in Yakima thinking it's going to be a few days. I called my dad. I said, they're releasing me right now.
come there with heights and pick me up. And he's like, I'll be there. Don't worry. And then he passed me to my sisters. And, uh, I started telling her, wait, wait, who told you this? I said, no, look, they're releasing me there. I'm packing my stuff up right now. So tell the lawyers, cause I can't get a hold of them, tell them to come up here and pick me up.
So I have to be stuck in the parking lot, waiting for you guys for a couple of hours. And so apparently they were all at IHOP when they got the call that they just seen my dad start racing out the door. And there's like 30 of them. They all get up like, where's he going? And he's like, they just, they're releasing him. And everybody's like, whoa, no, what are you talking about?
And he's like, no, he just called me. And the lawyer's like, well, let's call the prison. They called the prison, they confirmed it. And then they just all raced up to their eyes.
After almost three decades of incarceration, Junior was being released from prison to be a free man. Officer after officer from the prison would make their way to Junior's unit to congratulate him and wish him well. as he makes his way to sign the final piece of paperwork, which officially makes him a free man.
And they call me down to property, and they change me out into clothing, and then I'm going to release you, right? So I'm like, I head out, and along the way, there are a couple guards come out, a sergeant that I knew from way back, and he comes out, and he says, I heard the news, I had to come over here, and he starts shaking my hand.
And so all the guards on there were shaking my hand right there, and I went over to the clothing room, I exchanged all my clothes, and this one guy is funny, because he... He sees me in the clothing that they release you. And he's like, where are you going? I said, I'm out of here. He goes, what do you mean you're out of here? I said, I'm getting out. He's like, huh? Five, 10 minutes.
We're going back and forth. I'm literally walking out right now. He's like, no. He's like, oh, man, I'm so happy for you and everything. And so I go back to the unit. I had to wait a little bit longer. And I started getting kind of nervous, like, oh man, how long is this going to take? And then they call my name. And so I give my roommate a hug. We've been roommates for over a year.
Give him a hug. Tell him, all right, I'm going to get out. And I start walking out. So I go up there and they show me the paperwork. I sign it. And that's when it's official. That's when I knew, okay, it's going to happen. So I sign my release papers. I tell them my release address. They're going to give me $600, $300 as a release money and $300 for food.
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Chapter 3: What was the process of packing up before leaving prison like?
Let's take the picture somewhere else. But they all line up, take the picture. I'm just anxious to go, you know. And there was some of the news people were there and they were taking pictures and everything. And so I was there for about 10, 15 minutes. And I was like, hey, we gotta, let's go. So I jumped in the car and we were out of there and we headed to McDonald's right there.
I was in the restaurant right there. McDonald's was really, really strange. I'm sitting out there. My sister gives me a phone. So I talked to my fiance and said, look, I'm out. I'm right here at McDonald's. And she was like, where? Where are you calling me from? I was like, I'm calling you from McDonald's on a phone. And she's like, what kind of phone? I said, it's an iPhone.
And she's like, whose is it? I said, it's my niece's. And she's like, you're out? And I'm like, yeah, I'm out.
I was emailing with her after, obviously, I found out from your sister about the release. I sent her an email. I was like, oh, my God, I just heard. It's amazing. And even then she's like, yeah, I know, but I don't trust these people. I won't start celebrating until he's literally out of those walls. She has absolutely no trust or faith in that system whatsoever.
She's like so staunch, just going, no, I'm not going to get emotional. I'm not going to jump for joy until he's literally out of those walls.
It's funny, too, because on the way back, I was talking to her almost the whole time. all the way back but there was a large uh there's an area that has no wi-fi service or nothing so it cuts out we cut out for about an hour and then i called her right after we passed that area and she was like what happened they take you back are you good i said no i i was we're just in a blind spot
Junior and his family would make the long drive home, back to where it all started 27 years ago, back to Sunnyside and back to his family home.
I mean, the drive back was just, it was something else, you know. I had my cousin who was in the front. I hadn't seen her in 27 years. She was just a little girl. She's all grown up. She's driving. And then my little niece on one side of me, my other niece in the back, my sister, Debbie, and my sister, Vanessa. The drive back was funny because they were all kind of talking with each other.
And I hadn't been in that kind of setting, not even in the visiting room with all of them like that. So it was just, it was a beautiful feeling. When I got home, I was, there were 30 or 40, you know, The people there, they're all my nephew, nieces, cousins, and most of them I haven't met before. So I just got out of the car and they were all shaking my hands.
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Chapter 4: How did Evaristo's family react to his release?
I was like, we're ready to set this TV up. Right. And my little nephew goes, Oh, Oh, hold up. And he just kind of races out the door. Right. And I'm like, where's this guy going? Just show me where the outlet's at and I can kind of just screw this in, right? And he comes in with this massive, like, 42-inch TV. And I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, this is your TV.
I said, I just need a TV cord. No, no, this is your TV. And he's almost stumbling with it. And I'm like, and he puts it on the wall And then he just kind of plugs it in. He's like, well, we got DirecTV. And we're just, you know, he's putting it on demand and all this stuff. And I'm like lost.
What do you mean?
What are all these words? On demand? What do you mean? He sits there and starts programming everything. And I'm completely lost. And he's like, yeah, you do this. You do that. You go like this. You do that. And I'm just like, I'm never going to watch TV again. I'm never going to figure this out.
It's way too hard. Again, now that he's obviously a free man, Junior and his family waste no time in getting him out and back experiencing life. Think about it. Life as we know it, the things that we take for granted, things that Junior hasn't done in almost 30 years. Gone to the movies, gone shopping for new clothes, eaten at a restaurant or even a drive-thru for that matter.
sat out in the backyard laughing with friends, ridden a bike, driven a car, or even been swimming.
I think the next day we went to the Columbia River, and I went swimming for the first time in 20-some years. And that was funny as hell because I've been to this camping spot that we went to. We went every year. The year before, 1995, we went that year, and then I got locked up in 1996. In the same area, it looked exactly the same. Nothing would really change.
I go in there and I kind of slowly get in there. I stay in the little kids area because I feel like I can't swim anymore. I thought, OK, I can swim. But I just felt like I couldn't anymore. I was weak and I was kind of floating around. And my sister was like, hey, you got to go back out there. And I said, no, I'm staying right here.
I can literally touch the bottom of my hands and they were like, no, it's too shallow. Keep going. I kept getting up and I kept falling and they were laughing at me and they were filming me just going in and out of the water. But I sat there and when I got out of the water, I sat there and I just looked at it again and I was like, man, I can't believe it. And I filmed the way up there too.
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Chapter 5: What emotions did Evaristo experience upon returning home?
I wrote them and told them, look, whatever I can do, I'm going to do for you guys, you know, so I'm going to make time no matter what. But it is it was hard. Not only that, but there was also which is a little bit strange. There was some staff that I was really, really cool with and respected in there that I would see all the time.
And every time I would talk to them, you know, they were we kind of developed a friendship, if that's even possible.
Yeah.
And some of them I'm going to kind of miss to miss seeing some of them. I had a boss that was just.
just so cool, you know, and I would, we'd go out and fight fires together and we'd be out there in the, um, uh, staging and we would talk, you know, we'd have talks and, you know, all of us as a group, you know, you get real close when, when you're, you know, you're a 10 man crew and you're out there fighting fires in the middle of the night. And so I'm going to miss a lot of them too.
Because they were really, you know, they were really close to me. But the only way to kind of deal with that is to reach out to those few individuals and kind of maintain that kind of friendship. But yeah, there was actually some sadness in leaving that place for me.
Another question, this one's from Michael. He said, this is actually, you know, the gang-related situation. Obviously, you know, we know that you were part of a gang inside prison. You gave it all up to focus on getting out, and that's why you got moved to the different facility.
The question was, now that you're out, you're back in Sunnyside, is there any concern over, you know, people who are in that gang come knocking on the door saying, hey, what's up?
Yeah, I mean, in the beginning, there was a lot of concern because I didn't know what to expect when I got here. But once I kind of came out, kind of kind of seen the response of the community, that anxiety kind of went away. It doesn't mean that I won't run into people here and there. But at the same time, I think that there's a part of it that has to do with my story.
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