A co-host of “Ear Hustle,” the Pulitzer Prize-nominated podcast produced behind bars, was launched from San Quentin State Prison on Wednesday, a 12 months after Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted his sentence.
Rahsaan Thomas, 52, left the jail and was greeted by his fellow podcast co-hosts Walter Woods, who was freed in 2019, and Nigel Poor.
“We’re thrilled to welcome him home,” the podcast posted on its Twitter feed, together with images of Thomas.
Thomas’ sentence was commuted by Newsom in January 2022 and the state parole board granted his launch on parole in August.
“While in prison, Mr. Thomas has dedicated himself to his rehabilitation,” Newsom wrote within the commutation.
Thomas was serving a 55 1/2 years-to-life sentence for a second-degree homicide conviction in 2000 and associated prices after he fatally shot one sufferer and injured one other throughout a drug deal. A Los Angeles County jury rejected his self-defense declare that he fatally shot a person who was attempting to rob him.
Since 2019, Thomas has been a co-producer and co-host of “Ear Hustle”— named after jail slang for eavesdropping. He was additionally an everyday contributor to the San Quentin News, together with publications exterior jail partitions. He served as chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists’ San Quentin satellite tv for pc chapter and labored with a number of felony justice reform teams.
Former governor Jerry Brown in 2018 commuted the sentence of Woods, the podcast’s co-creator, resulting in his launch. Woods continues to work on the skin as a full-time producer and co-host for the podcast.
“Ear Hustle,” which started in 2017, payments itself as “the first podcast created and produced in prison, featuring stories of the daily realities of life inside California’s San Quentin State Prison, shared by those living it.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”