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We aim to create a lively conversation about the vital social, cultural, and political issues of our times, in California and the world beyond.
David Kuns, age 54
Did my crime at 17, was incarcerated at 19. Murder, Highland Park, Whittier, Foster… I was the 5th of my Mother and Father. They separated and stayed with my Mother. She lived with a common law husband. He molested both his stepdaughter and his own daughter. There was a lot of domestic violence. Physical, emotional and sexual violence. At 15 I went to a foster home. I wasn’t quite cut loose, but kicked…
There was a lot of life, drugs, alcohol. I blacked out and came too and was charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery—they coupled enhancement with it. So I took a deal of 15 to life with 2nd degree. SB260! I was in front of the board ten times. Last time I had a five year denial because of the magnitude of the crime. How you are who you are now, how many years you were in is meaningless to them. The Board has no oversight—they go against the rules. They were all people with 20 years in law enforcement—not they are more diverse. But I have still been denied ten times.
I came in in April of 1979. I was taken to LP Juvenile Hall in Downy. Held there for three days. There was a lack of evidence. Two years later they picked me up. They caught the guy who told on me. He took states evidence. At LP at 19 I lost a fitness hearing. Went to County Jail. I took a deal in June of 1981. I ended up in Chino processing center Southern. I was there for a month. Then to Quentin for a year and a half—level four. Then Soledad Level three. I moved around a lot. For the last 12 years. Now this is dorm housing. Friends visit once in a while. I am with a program with Antioch. I think we are all here to have our experiences and grow. You can be in the Chow hall for two years and then you have to move on. Never longer. My brother sends me some money. I am a strict vegetarian. No eggs, no cheese, no animal products. There are plenty of programs here.