Cacklin’ Kamala: San Francisco actor wrongfully convicted while Kamala Harris was DA says she laughed at him during trial

Jamal Trulove, an actor who was wrongfully convicted while Kamala Harris served as the District Attorney of San Francisco, is now speaking out about his experience, alleging that the current Vice President laughed in his face when his guilty verdict was read in court.

Trulove was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being framed by law enforcement for the 2007 shooting of his friend, Seu Kuka, the Daily Mail reports. Six years into his sentence, his conviction was overturned, and he was later awarded a $13.1 million settlement from the city of San Francisco.

In a recent interview on The Art of Dialogue talk show, Trulove described Harris's behavior during his trial. “We locked eyes this one time, and she laughed,” he recounted. “She literally just, like, kind of busted out laughing.”

“Almost as if she was pointing like, 'ha-ha', she didn't point, but that's how it felt,” Trulove continued.

Trulove had previously endorsed Harris during her 2020 presidential campaign. However, in a YouTube video, he said that he would be voting for Donald Trump in the November election. “If you're wondering if I'll be voting for Kamala 'Laugh-and-Lie' Harris, f*ck no,” he stated.

In 2015, Trulove was acquitted in a retrial. He subsequently sued the San Francisco Police Department and the officers involved in his case for fabricating evidence, coercing a key witness, and withholding information that could have exonerated him. A federal jury awarded him $14.5 million after determining that the two lead homicide detectives had violated his civil rights. Trulove ultimately accepted a $13.1 million settlement in exchange for the city dropping its appeal.

Reflecting on his conviction, Trulove explained that leading up to his conviction, he had hoped Harris, as a black district attorney with roots in Oakland, might show some leniency. 

“People in the projects knew who she was because she was a black district attorney and we thought we had a black district attorney in office that was from Oakland,” Trulove said. “We would think that she would be a little more favorable to us.”