Column 3: Conversations between Mohamed and Dina

November 1, 2024

In 2022 Dina was asked by a friend who is a leader in the Somali community to get to know Mohamed and help him in any way she could. This is the third in a series of columns Mohamed and Dina are writing about his life and story. Almost every word attributed here to Mohamed is a quote from Dina’s notes of conversations with him. Mohamed has served nine years of a forty year sentence in the WA State Penitentiary at Walla Walla. He was convicted of three counts of first degree assault and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm during an altercation in which one person was shot in the hand and sustained minor injuries.

Their First Column was published in the JCIJ newsletter in 2023 and originally published in The Retiree Advocate. The Second Column was published in August 2024.

Tell me about the night of the crime that led to your prison sentence.

It was a night like so many other nights from that time of my life. There were a few moments when I made bad choices. My co-defendant had left a gun in someone’s apartment. He asked me to pick up the gun for him. So I did. Bad choice. I was under the influence. Bad choice. I went to a birthday party with my co-defendant. Bad choice. There was an argument between two guys outside the party. Shots were fired. One man was hit in the hand and had minor injuries. The police took us in for questioning then they let us go. Five days later we were arrested and taken to county jail. I was in county jail for 22 months during my trials.

Did you understand what the lawyer was advising you? Did you understand what people were saying in court?

100% no! I had problems with the English language, especially all the legal words. Coming from another country, poor, no legal knowledge. I never had an interpreter in court or talking with my lawyer. The prosecutors offered me plea deals several times, especially if I would implicate my co-defendant. But I thought if we went to trial, the jury would understand me.

Sometimes it's not sweet in life. This is one of those things. The way I was going, drinking, life on the street, I was heading to get killed. Thank God I got a chance to re-live my life in prison. The ones still out there can’t. They’re stuck. As soon as I was in jail, I started praying again.  I needed that break (the arrest) to get my life back. I was able to get my life back! Opened my eyes. Once I was pulled out of life on the street I knew what I needed to do to live the life I wanted to live.

I wish I hadn’t been motivated to go to trial. The prosecutors were much stronger than me.  I had a complete lack of knowledge. Others in the county jail advised me to take the plea deal. I didn’t understand. I had 100% no clue what our justice system was like. 

County jail was a very frightening place. There was no way to feel comfortable there. I went right back to prayer. I never missed a prayer. And I had hope. I completely believed I would be found innocent. 

When I was found guilty and sentenced to forty years in prison, everything crashed. Until the conviction, I had hope that it would work out, but I lost everything with the conviction. Except prayer. It was like I lost my life but I’m still alive. 

I remember they woke me up in jail at 3AM on December 2, 2014. It was time to take the train to the prison. They shackled my legs, my waist, my hands. Scared is not the word for how I felt.  In shock. Numb. A lot of emotion, stress. Trying to think, calm myself down. My mind racing through all the bad things I had heard about prison. Thank God those bad things I worried about did not happen to me. I’ve seen a lot of stuff. I’ve heard about people who get raped, killed, beat up bad. Thank God it didn’t happen to me.

How did you figure out how to live every day in prison?

Just observing. Take time. Sit back and watch and see how everything is done. You got to learn the rules. They don’t teach you. 

The first moment, all eyes are on you. Everybody is watching how they can take advantage of you. Staff, inmates want to check you out, what are you about. They ask you questions, where are you from, which group do you want to be a part of.  I said the Muslims. This turned out to be mostly the safest choice because Muslims follow religious practice. 

There was taunting, people calling you names, trying to get under your skin. Multiple fights. It keeps happening even now. All the time. People are angry, don’t know how to handle it. Can’t get help. Can’t reach their people. People are going through a lot.

It’s best to stay to yourself. You still get into it, even if you try to stay to yourself. Can’t hide. If you go out in the yard with 100 people, they will find you. I have to always keep my eyes open. The reality is much, much worse than I can tell you. I don’t want to stress you out. I’ve seen people who killed themselves, dead in their cells.