by Patty PursellSeven years ago, Ajay Dev was wrongfully convicted in Yolo County and sentenced to 378 years for a crime that many know he did not commit. There have been hundreds of people that have marched to proclaim his innocence. All those that have looked at all the evidence thoroughly realize what a tragedy this wrongful conviction is. For seven long years, Ajay has been awaiting the appellate court to review his wrongful conviction and fix this horrible injustice.
We hear that our justice system is the best in the world, and I honestly believed that before I witnessed how the Yolo County Justice System failed Ajay Dev. We witnessed the prosecutor act shamefully. He did not care about justice—he just wanted to win the case. He spent much of his energy keeping evidence away from the jury that would show Ajay’s innocence and made up a stories to bolster his weak case.
On October 19th the appellate court will hear oral arguments for Ajay’s appeal. I truly hope that the appellate court will fix this tragedy and right the wrong done by the Yolo County Justice System. The sad thing is that our justice system takes way too long to fix mistakes—the average is between 15-20 years. Can you imagine spending 15-20 years in jail for a crime you did not commit and unable to hold or touch your children.
If ever you are asked to be a juror, please realize that both sides have their own agendas so just look at only the evidence (and realize that sometimes some evidence will not be shown to you). Don’t believe that the lawyers in the room are trying to find the truth and do justice. Realize that they may say anything to win.
a lot of troubling aspects of this case – at the top is the decision by judge fall to allow the alleged victim to translate the taped phone conversation her self. the lack of physical evidence and the extreme sentence are worrisome as well
cashforconvictionswinatallcost mentality.
The prosecutors probably started out as well meaning law students, years ago. Somewhere along the line perhaps they got jaded. Perhaps they were always jaded. I sincerely hope not. Somewhere in time they forgot what they learned in law school. Shame on them.
Prosecutors, please please remember the day you received your letter admitting you to law school. Please remember your giddy innocence. Remember what you wanted to accomplish, back then? It’s not too late. Be brave and help Ajay. Please.
I agree that it is wrong to label prosecutors of this type as bad people who have always been bad. This country has handed prosecutors the lion’s share of judiciary power while simultaneously allowing the competitiveness within the prosecution field to go unrestrained.
Ultimately it is our fault that a person, good or not, is allowed to decide the outcome of cases, which increases their courtroom “score”, and improves their career outlook.
But the massive support Ajay still has after all this time, though not on the scale of Adnan Syed or Brendan Dassey (for obvious reasons), is remarkable. Thanks for the continued marathon of support.