Jamal Trulove, a man wrongfully convicted of murder, says he’ll never forget the moment Kamala Harris, then a San Francisco prosecutor, laughed at him when he was found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit. Trulove was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2007 murder of his friend Seu Kuka. However, his conviction was based on fabricated evidence, coerced witness testimony, and suppression of crucial information.
In a recent interview, Trulove described locking eyes with Harris after the verdict was read and witnessing her break into laughter. “She literally just, like, kind of busted out laughing. Almost as if she was pointing like, ‘ha-ha,’” he said, expressing how the moment still haunts him years later.
Trulove was eventually exonerated in 2015 after spending six years in prison. His civil rights were violated by police officers who framed him, leading to a $13.1 million payout from the city of San Francisco. Despite overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, Harris has been criticized for her efforts to uphold wrongful convictions throughout her career, even when those convictions were shown to be based on misconduct.
Legal expert Lara Bazelon has been a vocal critic of Harris, accusing her of defending convictions that were secured through unethical practices like evidence tampering. Trulove’s case has become a symbol of the darker side of Harris’ prosecutorial record. Now a vocal critic of Harris, Trulove has pledged his support for President Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
