FATEFUL REDEMPTION

Words By Bec Doyle

One of the first things I noticed as I began what would be an hour long conversation with Nhut Vo, was how articulate, self aware and well spoken he was. Only months after his early release from prison, through the help of The Innocence Program, Vo’s sentence of life without the possibility of parole had been successfully overturned. And despite being released during a worldwide pandemic Vo is full of positivity and determination.

Moving from Vietnam to Westminster, California when he was 9 years old, he was shy and didn’t speak much English. “I lived in a rural area of Vietnam at that time so when I came here it was just like heaven with all the technology and all the people. It was a bit overwhelming.” Vo says he spent a lot of time in his own thoughts making a lot of assumptions. With his parents both working full time to support the family, and his older brothers starting their own families, Vo had a lot of free time, which he accounts as one of the catalysts in gravitating toward the gang lifestyle, “they were struggling with the same problems I had, like they didn’t belong anywhere.”After his parents divorced he found himself with even more freedom and time by himself, which further ingrained him into the gang lifestyle. “At some point all the moral values that I was taught growing up kind of shifted.” He says the culture shift, with children having so much freedom, was difficult for his traditional Asian parents, and he took advantage of that. “Looking back now I understand how much my parents actually struggled, they were in the process of adjusting themselves.”

At the age of 16, while attending a party, they ran into a rival gang and an argument ensued, which escalated, resulting in 2 young men losing their lives that day. “In my mind, at that time, I thought I had everything figured out, my world was so small, I just lived in that little city and I thought that was the world.” Vo explains that no charges were filed on that day due to numerous accounts of him trying to stop the fight, although he attributes that as self serving behavior, wanting to appear as the good guy. Almost 3 years later charges were filed against Vo for the crimes committed at that fateful gathering. “I was arrested, and I was tried, and I was given life without the possibility of parole.” Already in a dark, negative space Vo says “I felt like I was drowning already and that was like the last blow. I felt like I didn’t have any hope after that.”

At 19 years old, still not even considered an adult, his outlook felt very bleak

That sentence is essentially saying you’re going to die in prison,

he says. Vo describes the unfortunate need to live up to the stigma of his charges when he started his sentence. “Going into prison with a double homicide, it places a certain status on you, an expectation, for me I felt the need to live up to that status, I felt like it was the only way I could survive.” This further perpetuated the cycle of negativity in Vo’s life, getting into fights and living in fear, “I continued the same destructive belief system that I had.”

Vo would spend 15 years in a maximum security prison “because of my fear and because of my behavior, there wasn’t any real incentive for people with my sentence”. Vo explains programs like the GED were reserved for inmates with parole dates. So Vo taught himself how to draw “at first I started out with tracing”. After discovering a market within the prison population for drawings of ‘Precious Moments’ cartoon images, Vo, with his natural ability, began to make drawings on request for fellow inmates, as gifts for their families and partners. “I started out just drawing, I only learned how to paint recently,” he adds.

In 2014 Vo was contacted by The Human Rights Watch organization who were advocating to end the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for juveniles. “There’s a lot of scientific study saying people have not fully developed until the age of 25,” Vo explains. This call would change the trajectory of Vo’s life. Still skeptical, after all the unsuccessful attempts at appeals, “In my mind it was safer to accept things for what it is, not to nurture any hope out of fear of being crushed again.” Around this time something incredible happened for Vo (and countless others sentenced as juveniles), the Supreme Court ruled it “cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a child to life without the possibility of parole,” Vo explains. He recalls this news came during a time of segregation when he had a lot of time by himself to reflect on his life and choices, and he saw this news as the glimmer of hope he so desperately needed.

“The Innocence Project” then reached out to Vo, and after reviewing his case and speaking to witnesses, firmly believed he should not have received his sentence. “After that I started to realize there is a lot more to life and you know, there’s a possibility I could go home.” Vo began taking college classes, he started to learn a lot about Buddhism, and even formed his very own Buddhist meditation group, overcoming his insecurities regarding his accent and speaking in front of people.

I started building my self esteem, I didn’t really have a strong foundation, but the more positive things I would do, the more affirmation I would get.”

Vo soon discovered a sense of purpose leading this group and found the value in giving back, “To be honest, when I was doing these things, the thought of going home didn’t even cross my mind because I just enjoyed what I was doing so much.”

In 2016 after 2 years of working with “The Innocence project”, The Supreme Court ruling finally came into effect and Vo was able to go back to court for resentencing. “When they make a Supreme Court ruling it takes a while for each state to adopt the law,” Vo explains.

“It was a surreal experience because I never thought I would have this opportunity.” When Vo went back to court for his resentencing hearing, the probation officer assigned to his case was a woman he’ll never forget named Kristin. “Their purpose is to actually oppose your sentencing hearing, they look at all your juvenile records, look at all your behavior and present that to the judge.” Vo says. Call it an act of fate or good fortune, after all his misfortune, it turned out Kristin had also studied Buddhism and she was in a recovery program helping ex addicts, a cause Vo had also pioneered in prison. “I had facilitated a group for Alcoholics Anonymous, I was in the lead position, so I had to study and know the steps, so I think we connected with that. She told me, I believe in you, she said this law was created for people like you, and that was exactly what she told the judge.”

Depiction of inmate at parole hearing

All this kindness and compassion reinforced Vo’s belief that his previous way of thinking and operating was wrong. Once the judge passed the reduced sentence, granting the possibility of parole, he was sent to a “lower level, level 3” section of the prison, which allowed him access to more programs including one extra special program that we featured in M. Citizen Magazine, “The Pawsitive Change Program.” In this program Vo interacted with dogs for the first time in his life and went into the program with an open mind determined to make the most of every opportunity afforded to him. “In every program I always take the lead position, I go out of my way to make sure I’m contributing to it.” Vo got involved with numerous other programs available to him and has remained in contact with a lot of those organizations since his release.

When you plant positive seeds that’s what you’re going to get in return. There were alot of things that I was able to do, and now I have something to show for it.

Vo would like to see more programs in prison allowing inmates the opportunity to earn credits. “There are a lot of people in there that have a lot to give, and they’re not getting that opportunity,” he adds.

Photograph of Vo and one of his commissioned artworks

Before leaving prison Vo had aspirations to mentor youth in his community, not ever imagining he would also have the ability to share his story on such a vast platform. “Before I went in I was using a pager,” Vo says with a chuckle. So navigating the world of social media has been a brand new experience for him. Exposure from organizations like the Pawsitive Change Program and its founder Zach Skow has given Vo a platform to share his story, his love of animals, and his impressive art. He describes being out of prison as a sensory overload, “just the spatial aspect, you don’t have the sense of confinement anymore, and everything is full of color.” But in that same breath the thought of no boundaries was also a scary feeling after 20 years inside the prison walls. He recalls the heartbreaking thoughts he would have simply looking up at the sky during his incarceration; “this is the same sky that my family looks up to, but I’m not in the same world, even though we share the same sky.” Through social media Vo has formed friendships and connections with people he never felt possible, and feels humbled when people contact him for advice or support. “I know how powerful words can be, you can say one simple thing and change someone’s perspective.”

Vo's painting of a lunch bag in prison

Vo's Mural For The Positive Change Program

While incarcerated Vo painted beautiful murals for “The Innocence Project” and “The Pawsitive Change Program”. “Most of the time I paint for people because they have been kind to me.” Vo goes on to say that for him it’s a form of gratitude. But he also just paints for the joy of it. He laughs as he recalls painting the lunch bag that they hand out in prison, “I just didn’t want to eat it anymore, and I just wanted people to see it, and you can’t take pictures, so I painted it.” After learning of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s passing Vo painted a beautiful portrait to honor her, with gratitude for her part in the Supreme Court ruling that juveniles convicted of murder can not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He recalls reading over the law that essentially led to his release, so many times, with Ginsburg’s words in particular still lingering in his mind, “These are children, and you are essentially creating a throw away person. What is the value in that.” Vo says he sees Ginsburg as

a caring mother, that’s very forgiving, I just felt that she saw value in us. People that were young and made terrible choices, she still believed that we had some value and contribution that we could give to society.

Vo's Portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

After hearing Vo’s inspiring journey of spirituality, self discovery, and perseverance, I can’t help but feel proud of his achievements, and feel privileged to share his story. He is NOT a ‘throw away person’, and never was. Which makes you wonder, how many more Vo’s are out there, waiting for their twist of fate? Vo has aspirations to own his own business someday, and hopes to go back into prisons with “The Pawsitive Change Program” as a dog trainer, to inspire and share his story, and encourage the inmates to take advantage of all the programs offered, and get an education. “I chose to isolate myself my whole life and I chose to carry a lot of prejudice because of fear. But I realized a lot of my assumptions about life and about people were wrong.”

Vo's Commissioned painting of ‘Charlotte”