Kirk Odom served 20 years in prison for a rape he never committed. He was released in 2003 after serving his sentence and nine years later, on July 10, 2012, prosecutors acknowledge that he was in fact innocent and convicted based on erroneous FBI forensics.
We have put together this petition to ask that an investigation be conducted into the case of Ajay Dev, a dark skinned man, who was convicted of rape even though there was NO physical evidence, no witnesses, no corroborated testimony; and the alleged victim's testimony was inconsistent and outrageous. Click here to sign the petition.
The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, admits that statistically 8 to 12% of all state prisoners are either actually or factually innocent. If this statement alone isn’t harrowing enough, consider this quick statistical delineation. As of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 total inmates in American state prisons, according to Prison Count 2010. If the Bureau of Justice’s mean statistic of falsely imprisoned people is used (10%), then in 2010 there were approximately 140,405 falsely imprisoned people in our country.
Eyewitness testimony is an integral part of the judicial process, but often can be described as a chronic ailment of the American judicial system and one that contributes to wrongful convictions. The evidence is plain to see. Search any credible study or media source, and it will invariably display the same thing. Reliance on the memory of witnesses is, after all, not reliable.
[caption id="attachment_63" align="alignleft" width=""]Ajay and his son in June 2008[/caption]
Ajay Dev was born in Kathmandu Nepal. His father and mother were born and grew up in Southern Nepal and Northern India. They were farmers, living in mud houses with thatched roofs and no running water or electricity. His father was a gifted student and through his academic abilities was given scholarships to attend college.