After 16 years of wrongful imprisonment, Ajay Dev is finally free and grateful for the support of his community, family, and advocates, and is now determined to use his experience to help others who have been wrongfully convicted.
Progressive prosecutors are facing intense scrutiny for their policies, while traditional prosecutors who have committed serious ethical violations are largely ignored, creating a double standard in the media discourse on criminal justice reform.
Ajay Dev, who was wrongly convicted of raping his adopted daughter in 2009, had his conviction overturned by Judge Beronio, and now the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office must decide whether to retry the case or dismiss the charges.
The court found that the defense attorney failed to properly authenticate evidence from Nepal, which could have established that Sapna’s birthdate was actually April 28, 1983, and that she was the one who altered her passport, which would have invalidated many of the charges against the defendant.
Judge Janene Beronio granted Ajay Dev release on his own recognizance, overturning the conviction and setting aside the DA’s request for bail, and agreed to some of the DA’s conditions, but not others.
Ajay Dev’s conviction was overturned after 16 years due to a series of legal errors, mishandling of evidence, and newly surfaced facts that challenged the credibility of his accuser, highlighting the difficulties in undoing a wrongful conviction in California’s justice system.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge Janene Beronio granted habeas corpus relief to Ajay Dev, overturning his 2009 conviction for sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, and a bail hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Steve Mount, a retired prosecutor, has been accused of disregarding the legal standard and evidence in his pursuit to secure the conviction of Ajay Dev, despite the fact that the truth and law no longer justify it.
Defense attorney Jennifer Mouzis argued that the prosecution’s approach in the Habeas hearing for Ajay Dev was “transactional” and that the state had ignored cultural nuance and credibility, while Deputy District Attorney Steven Mount argued that the defense failed to present credible evidence and that the legal burden of proof was not met.
Woodland, CA— The closing arguments in the habeas corpus hearing for Ajay Dev have brought new forensic…
In the continued pursuit of justice for Ajay Dev, his defense team procured and presented new evidence…
Woodland, CA. – In her closing brief, Jennifer Mouzis challenges the conviction of Ajay Dev, arguing that…
(Editor’s note: Ajay Dev was convicted in Yolo County in 2009 and sentenced to 378 years in…
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