Oprah-backed California Buddhist death row inmate loses fight to overturn conviction

The California death row inmate who has high-profile defenders, including Oprah, has vowed to continue to fight for his freedom after his latest bid in the courts failed.

Jarvis Jay Masters, 62, is currently on death row for the 1985 murder of San Quentin State Prison corrections officer Sgt. Hal Burchfield. Masters is accused of making the weapon used to kill the sergeant and writing a note describing making the sharpened piece of metal used in the murder, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Masters has maintained his innocence and says he was forced to copy out the notes by superiors in a prison gang but has not had much success in the courts. Masters has exhausted his legal appeals at the state level, and a federal court dismissed his claims on September 3. “I was hopeful, but I had also prepared myself emotionally for yet another legal hurdle in securing my freedom,” Masters said in a statement.

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On Monday, Masters’ attorneys reasserted his innocence and said they would appeal Gilliam’s ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “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,” attorney Michael F. Williams said.

Masters entered San Quentin in 1981 at age 19 on an armed robbery charge, following a tumultuous childhood. While in prison he converted to Buddhism and in 2009 he wrote the memoir "That Bird Has My Wings," which Oprah hand selected for her influential Book Club.

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In a 2022 discussion of the book, Winfrey described the memoir as “the story of a young boy victimized by addiction and poverty and violence and the foster care system and later the justice system,” and said Masters’s account “touched me so deeply and still does today.

Winfrey once said she "absolutely" believed in Master's innocence, as does the victim's youngest son, Jeremiah Burchfield, who was just 2-years-old when his father was killed. "I feel sad for him," the 41-year-old told the Times. "I'm very upset with the system."