From the project Uncuffed and San Quentin Radio:
David Jassy is a Grammy-nominated artist and songwriter from Stockholm, Sweden. With a passion for music and a promising career ahead of him, he flew to Hollywood to work with fellow artists. But six weeks into his stay Jassy found himself facing a life sentence in prison. How did Jassy’s tale turn from triumph to tragedy so quickly?
I just remember growing up, if I heard about somebody being convicted of murder that was like 'wow, how can you murder somebody?' And here I am in a street fight and somebody dies.
David Jassy was granted clemency by Governor Newsom in March of this year. On April 7, 2020, David was released after 11 years of incarceration, and returned to Sweden, where he is living now.
Uncuffed, formerly San Quentin Radio, is a project in which KALW editors train incarcerated people to report stories from inside prison. A CDCR official listened to and approved the audio for this story prior to broadcast.
Click the audio player above to listen to the interview.
This interview first aired in December of 2014.
