WOODLAND, CA – Three weeks after Yolo County Superior Court Judge Beronio overturned his 2009 conviction and released him on his own recognizance, Ajay Dev returned to court Friday for a brief hearing that left his legal fate unresolved.
Dev, who spent 16 years in prison, was convicted of raping his adopted daughter—a charge he has consistently denied. He was sentenced to 378 years and four months in prison for that conviction.
In vacating the conviction, Judge Beronio declared there was a “reasonable probability” that Dev was innocent.
Friday’s hearing before Judge Paul Richardson was procedural and brief. The matter was continued to July 10 to allow the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office more time to determine whether it will move forward with a retrial.
Speaking outside the courtroom to a crowd of roughly 50 supporters, including friends and family members, Dev’s attorney Jennifer Mouzis said the DA’s office was not yet prepared to dismiss the charges, but also not ready to proceed with prosecution. She expressed hope that prosecutors would give the case “thoughtful consideration.”
The defense maintains that the original trial was deeply flawed and that new evidence presented during recent habeas corpus proceedings undermines the key elements of the 2009 conviction. Central to the case was a pretext phone call between Dev and the alleged victim, Sapna Dev, which the prosecution had cited as a confession. However, a newly enhanced audio version presented during the habeas hearing raises serious doubts about that interpretation.
Additional testimony from friends and family has surfaced, asserting that Sapna Dev admitted in real time that she had fabricated the allegations. Combined with other newly discovered evidence, the defense believes this demonstrates that Dev was wrongfully convicted.
“We are disappointed that the district attorney was not able to make a decision today about whether to retry this case,” Mouzis told the Vanguard. “We’re confident that in the end, once they review the full record, they will come to the same conclusion that we have come to—and so many others have—that Ajay Dev is not guilty of these crimes, is in fact innocent, and that any retrial would not be in the interest of justice and would not serve the people of Yolo County or the state of California.”
She added, “We look forward to more discussions with the district attorney as we go forward to help them understand that Mr. Dev deserves to be with his family in peace and without fear of wrongful incarceration or conviction.”
Dev’s case has long been the subject of public scrutiny, with supporters pointing to inconsistencies in the original investigation, cultural misunderstandings, and a lack of physical evidence. The decision now lies with the DA’s office: retry a case increasingly seen as flawed—or allow a man who has already lost 16 years of his life to finally go free.
Thank you again David for taking the time to examine this case in such great detail. We always knew that Ajay was wrongfully convicted. Now Ajay is home because Judge Beronio realized that his sentence needed to be reversed after examining the new evidence and the entire court record.