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Chapter 1: What led to Evaristo Salas Jr.'s wrongful incarceration?
You're looking well? Yeah, I'm definitely well, I can tell you that much. Yeah, being in the free world looks good on you, mate.
Yeah, it feels good.
Hello, and welcome back to One Minute Remaining. My name is Jack Lawrence, the host and creator of this show. In November of 2022, one evening after my wife and I had put the kids to bed, we sat down and chucked on a streaming service and stumbled across a show called Wrong Man. Billed as a show that was looking into cases of people claiming to have been wrongfully incarcerated.
The very first story of season one told a harrowing tale of a young man who'd been arrested at just 15 for a murder he said he didn't commit. We sat glued to episode one and two of this story, a story which ended in an incredible revelation of a snitch claiming that he was forced to fabricate a statement by the lead detective in the case. And on that, the show ended.
After we finished, I frantically jumped online to find out what had happened to this man and his freedom and was shocked to see that he was still in prison. And at that moment, I knew I had to speak to him.
My name is Elristo Salas Jr. I was wrongly convicted of first degree premeditated murder when I was 15 years old and I was sentenced to 32 years, nine months.
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Chapter 2: How did Evaristo feel after being released from prison?
How long have you currently been incarcerated for?
I've been incarcerated for... About 26 years and six months.
And so began our journey with Evaristo Salas Jr. A journey that would end on the 18th of August, 2023, with one phone call.
Hello?
Hey, Debbie, it's Jack. How are you?
Hey, hi.
What's happening?
So, he's exonerated.
No way! No way!
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Evaristo face during his reintegration into society?
No, he's free. And guess what else? And we're on our way to pick him up right now. Oh, my God. I know. Phoebe, what the hell happened? I don't know. We walked in at nine o'clock. And at 9.02, the prosecutor was saying that the judge announced that he remembers. I know.
However, as that journey ended, another one begins. One that now sees a 43-year-old man who grew up inside a penitentiary learning about the world all over again. I caught up with Junior a week after he was released and he was still finding his feet and being shuttled around from relative to relative, homecoming after homecoming.
But now that the dust has settled and the world goes back to its normal daily routine, how is he doing? Well, I sat down with him again to find out just that.
Chapter 4: How is Evaristo adjusting to life outside of prison?
And it will be no surprise to anyone that he is thriving. The last time we spoke, you were just, I think, about maybe a week, two weeks out of prison. So still very fresh, still a lot going on. It was leading up to Christmas and all that sort of stuff, the big family events. I'm sure super overwhelming for you.
It wasn't too overwhelming. It was something that I've always envisioned and missed. It didn't disappoint. I mean, everybody came together and I was, you know, the reason why everybody came together because everybody, you know, growing up, they have their lives, they have their kids. They had to juggle between two families, you know, the wife and then, you know, the son, that kind of stuff.
So, but they all came together and made it a good Christmas, made it a good birthday. So all the holidays, they've all come together and we've celebrated together, which is, it's amazing. It really feels amazing. Felt good at the time.
Chapter 5: What are Evaristo's plans for education and career?
I don't know how long it's going to last, because like I said, you know, everybody had the joy of, you know, of me being out. And I hope that it continues, you know, because I just I spoke to him during the family reunions and stuff and told him, look, you know, if you want this to continue, everybody has to put the effort in it.
Everybody has to do their part and not kind of wait for individuals to be invited, that kind of stuff. You know, I'm trying to get them out of this mentality where they feel ignored. Well, they have to invite me or this because if you wanted to work, you just have to do your part and not worry about if someone's going to invite you or do that or that. But it was good. I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed seeing the kids getting presents, watching them kind of run around the house. And that's how it was when I was a kid. Yeah, it was a it was a great moment.
There's obviously going to be a lot of people that you wouldn't have seen in decades. Was that sort of a bit mind-blowing seeing some people that obviously when you would have seen them last time, they were either kids or same age as you and now you're all adults?
Yeah, it's kind of a reminder of how long I've been away. I've seen kids that weren't even born when I was out. Almost everybody except for my nephew, Junior, all the rest were born while I was incarcerated.
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Chapter 6: How does Evaristo feel about the support he receives from his family?
And kind of seeing them and getting to know them, it's been a little strange and awkward at times because, like I said, they're already grown up. They've already formed their personalities. And I'm coming into their lives pretty late.
Yeah.
And so to try to bond with them all and try to, you know, get to know them at a better level, it's kind of challenging at times because some of them are teenagers. So they've already formed their little thought processes on life, you know, and some of them have this mentality where. You know, when you're a teenager, you think kind of, you know, you know everything. Of course. Yeah.
So to try to bond with them in that kind of way. I do, you know, because I joke a lot and I play a lot. And so but yeah, it's a it's a little awkward at times. Not anymore. But in the beginning, it was for the first month or two. And then also just seeing my like my brother, he was eight years old when I was out.
Chapter 7: What insights does Evaristo share about accountability in the justice system?
So seeing him as a family man, seeing him as a dad, as a husband, got his own house, you know, all that kind of stuff. You know, it has like, you know, a large family. And I kind of admire it because he's done such a good job at, you know, being a good dad and being there for his family and a stable environment for his kids, you know, a lot more than what we had when we were kids.
But just seeing that is very strange. And same thing with my sister, even my older sister, Deb, and my younger sister. And then seeing their kids because they're all old and having their own kids. So, yeah, it's a lot.
Yeah. What's been the biggest adjustment, would you say, from, you know, obviously spending your life 24-7 incarcerated and being told what you can do, what you can't do, when you do things, when you go to sleep, all the rest of it? Is there one thing that's been a really big adjustment for you or have you felt like you've kind of adjusted really well?
I think I did a pretty good job at adjusting. Not too much. There hasn't been really anything big. I do like got to get used to just being able to walk out of the room whenever I want. I think sometimes I like, for instance, I do a lot of schoolwork because I'm in college and all that stuff.
Chapter 8: What are Evaristo's thoughts on traveling and experiencing freedom?
So I'll spend all day in there just nonstop on the computer knocking out these assignments. And then realize that I don't have to be in the room. I can actually study outside or go to the park. And so the other day, like the first quarter, the first, uh, quarter that I did, uh, college, I spent most of it right there in my room.
I'd be in there all morning when I got back to class and just knocking out these assignments and then come out like at nine 30, 10 at night and realize the whole day is gone. But then I started realizing. I can just take this to the library. I can take this to the, you know, to the, to the local park. I can do all this stuff.
And so this, this week when I already started on my, I already started on my new quarter. I've been into it for probably about three weeks now. And so now I've just been bouncing around, went to the library the other day.
I went to one of the parks between Sunnyside and Grandview and just went out there and read, you know, and kind of just enjoy being able to do that because in prison you can't, basically you can't leave your room whenever you want, but you can't take anything out to the yard. Getting adjusted to that and realizing I had that option to do it.
And then coming out at night, I had a tendency, I had a tendency the first couple of weeks of just being in the room and thinking, and I would sit there and I'd be like, wait a minute, I can just go outside if I want. What am I doing? And then I'll just go walk outside because, personally, you're never outside at night.
So just the shock of that and being able to see the stars and just kind of just seeing how it is out there, it was kind of a really beautiful feeling. And it's just like almost a reminder. I sometimes remind myself, not so much now, but in the beginning, that I can do these things. There's nothing stopping me.
And then once I learned how to drive and got comfortable going on freeways and got my own car and everything, got my driver's license, then it was like, you know, as long as I have gas money, I can pretty much go anywhere I want. And so that, that's been, been wonderful, you know, to drive.
So I drive back and forth from college and it's about, I would say about a 45 minute drive from Sunnyside to here to try cities in my sister's house.
And then just learning the roads back and forth, learning the off ramps and all that stuff, you know, in the beginning, it was, it was, I had a lot of anxiety, you know, cause I was, I was just not used to having not only so much decisions, but having that kind of control over my life.
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