I went with four of my sisters to see Ajay this weekend.  It was an
interesting experience I thought I would share with you.  Here are some
of the thoughts I walked away with:

1.  Ajay told us that many prisoners are so excited to get
visitors, not so much for the visitors, but for the food in the visitor
center.  This was so shocking to me because after the first visit I
couldn't make myself eat much of the vending machine food offered.  It
was tasteless, processed and way below school cafeteria fare--nothing
that people on the outside would look forward to eating.  I asked Ajay
about what he eats on a regular basis.  He told us that he eats slop
every day.  Twice a month he gets BBQ chicken ,which is the big
excitement. 

2.  I asked Ajay about his cell.  I wanted to know if could move
around and get exercise.  He has just enough room between his bed and
the wall to stand sideways (just shoulder length).  He could jump up and
down for exercise, but not much else.  He tries to do push up and sit
ups in his bed. Also there is no privacy for bathroom issues either.  He
and his roomate have hung a sheet up between the bed and the toilet so
they can have some privacy.

3.  The yard they get for exercise is only dirt and no shade. The toilet there is completely open to the public.

4.  On every third day Ajay is in lockdown (in cell for the full 24 hours) because of budget cuts.  The guards have to take furloughs for budget reasons so the prisoners just get left in their cells.

4.  Before Ajay can come see us he is completely stripped down and then has to be stripped again when he leaves.

5. One thing that really bothered me was that children the same age
as Ajay's kids were playing within in 5 feet of where Ajay was sitting
while visiting us.  There are guards everywhere watching everything that
is happening, yet Ajay cannot see his children.  It made no sense to me
that the warden would not grant Ajay's request to see his children. 
There was no way the warden could think that Ajay's children would be at
risk given the set up of the room.

 

With all of this Ajay seems to be coping.  He says that the visits,
the letters, and his family and friends are keeping him going.  He
realizes that he is unique in this prison.  He gets more support than
anyone else he knows.  We spent most of our visits talking about the
case.  What kept coming up was the absolute ridiculousness of this case,
and how incredible it is that the jury convicted Ajay.  When we analyze
the trial, it is so very obvious that Ajay is innocent and that the
accuser is lying. 

 

I walked away madder than ever.  How can Ajay be in jail, not seeing his children, and being treated like dirt.  Especially because

1.  Ajay helped the accuser to come to this country for a better
education and better life.  When Ajay gave the accuser a hard time for
throwing away her education and being promiscousness with boys, the
accuser tried to cover up her shortcomings by retaliating against Ajay. 
Five months later the accuser drops the charges, but then when the
accuser lost her ability to come back to the US (because she was
criminally charged for passport fraud in Nepal), she started up her allegations against Ajay again in order to get into this country.  The accuser's motives are transparent.

 

2.  The prosecutor and detective did no investigation into the
accuser's claims and just pushed this case forward.  Then once the
accuser's testimony starts to fall apart, the prosecutor claims that she
just can't remember things. Finally, the prosecutor and investigator
misrepresent evidence in order to convince the jury and the judge allows
all this to happen. 

 

Sorry to go on for so long, but I think it is important for you to know what Ajay is facing.

 

 

Below are two articles on the Vanguard that are worth reading and
commenting (blogging) on.  We know grant funding is one of the reasons
that Ajay's case was pushed forward without investigation. Here's an
article that shows that the DA is willing to offer criminals no jail
time if they admit to gang membership.  The DA is showing that his
priority is fulfilling quotas for grant criteria more than justice. 

http://davisvanguard.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3658:four-defendants-in-memorial-park-attack-get-no-prison-time-in-exchange-for-admitting-gang-membership&catid=74:judicial-watch&Itemid=100

 

Here is an article that talks about prosecutorial misconduct. 

http://davisvanguard.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3655:toward-prosecutorial-accountability&catid=74:judicial-watch&Itemid=100

 

Finally, we are only 4 signatures short of our 350 goal. 
Hopefully, we can get these four signatures plus another 25.  Our goal
for next week is 375. We need to have politicians and people understand
that we need an investigation into Ajay's case.  The link is below.

 

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/stop_the_epidemic_of_injustice_in_yolo_county_free_ajay_dev

 Advocates for Ajay