Whenever Vasquez made parole in 2012, a several years bashful of her phrase, she ended up being stunned. “I became entirely unaware that I would personally be paroled, and I also nearly had an awareness of survivor’s guilt, because i truly felt like, вЂGod, why me personally? Why don’t you Liz or Cassie which had kiddies?’” she says. “They require them.”
She devoted herself advocating on her three friends nevertheless behind bars, showing up into the news and wanting to bring understanding and show their purity. “That ended up being my focus from 2012 once I was launched before the time before Thanksgiving in 2016, as soon as we won our exoneration,” she claims.
Whenever Vasquez first got away from prison, she relocated back once again to the San Antonio area and discovered just work at a tortilla factory. Gonzalez says she saw Vasquez being a razor- razor- sharp, articulate individual who could be a valuable asset to her legislation workplace and desired to employ her upon her launch. But this is ahead of when the exoneration, so that as a sex that is registered, Vasquez’s parole officer wouldn’t allow her work with Gonzalez because the work included kiddies. Gonzalez argued that young ones never ever stumbled on her office, however the state wouldn’t allow it.
However in March of 2016, the Innocence venture of Texas proposed a full-time task to Vasquez.
Vasquez’s duties have huge variations, from locating the nonprofit company financing to helping evaluate possible cases and dealing with all the lawyers. She’s additionally taking care of a task that will enable volunteers to help investigate situations underneath the guidance of a investigator or attorney. Another key responsibility of hers will be involved in the Texas exoneree community and rallying them to testify during the legislature.
“We’re not only wanting to assist the wrongfully convicted that seem to be sitting in jail, but we’re also attempting to change laws and regulations as well as the method they’re doing investigations,” Vasquez claims. “Just this previous session, myself as well as the girls decided to go to the Capitol to testify on specific bills, and now we assisted to pass HB 34, and today it’s mandated why these investigations need to be videotaped.” The San Antonio Four’s interrogations are not filmed, therefore it ended up being their term up against the detectives, causeing the bill specially significant for them.
Vasquez says they’re also attempting to raise understanding about jailhouse snitches, that are usually offered plea deals or any other benefits for testifying against individuals. This will end up in made-up testimony that gets people locked up.
In addition to traveling the global globe and talking with respect to the movie additionally the Innocence Project, “We’re actually attempting to change regulations and this does not take place,” Vasquez claims. “We wish to stop folks from planning to jail, not 
merely assisting them following the fact.”
Of all talking opportunities, Vasquez claims she specially really really loves talking at senior school and universities since she seems they’re our future, and they’re a courageous generation, specially given the present anti-gun walkouts.
“Even about it, I hate what we went through and the charges, they’re just disgusting,” she says though I hate talking. “But in addition, i truly feel like we can’t stopwe have to tell our tale, we have to inform individuals just what took place to us. And that this still happens today.”
Vasquez claims going right on through this experience has made her a much better, stronger, more compassionate individual who is less judgmental and materialistic.
She now provides everyone else the main benefit of any doubt. As an example, whenever she appears a homeless individual, she no further judges, but thinks that something made this individual that method. “Maybe they got associated with drugs, or possibly one thing took place plus they destroyed their task; it can be since straightforward as that,” she claims. “Everybody has a tale, and i must say i feel just like we ought to just do have more love in the field, more compassion toward individuals, and really accept that folks will vary. Everybody’s different, and nobody’s incorrect as a result of that, and no body should really be judged as a result of it.”
It’s possible to think the tale of Vasquez and her buddies is certainly one of redemption, but Gonzalez begs to vary. “Their tale is not certainly one of redemption, simply because they don’t should be redeemed,” the attorney muses. “It’s of hope. If they’d lost hope, they’d have actually remained in forever. They never ever stopped fighting.”