Divine C. Allah

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Charge:	Drug Related (Possession or sale)
Sentence:	5 yrs with 2-1/2 yrs min.
Years Imprisoned:	3.5
Year Crime:	2010
Year Convicted:	2013
Year Cleared:	2016
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New Jersey
County or Region of Crime:	Mercer
City of Crime:	Trenton
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Divine C. Allah was wrongly convicted on April 12, 2013 of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Allah's prosecution was based on the testimony of a Trenton PD detective that in October 2010 the detective found nine individually-wrapped baggies of cocaine in Allah's boot when he was being processed at the police station for an arrest. The police officer, Pedro Perez testified to the grand jury that footage of the cocaine's discovery in Allah's boot during his arrest would have been recorded on the police department's internal cameras, a standard procedure -- and that the CCTV tape could be subpoenaed for the grand jurors to see -- which it wasn't. Allah's defense at trial was that the police fabricated the claim that cocaine was discovered in his boot. During Allah's trial Perez testified that at the time of the grand jury proceedings the CCTV tape of Allah's booking had already been destroyed, because as a matter of policy the video on tapes is discarded after 60 to 90 days. The trial judge denied a motion to dismiss Allah's indictment on the basis the grand jury had been misled by false testimony about what was in fact non-existent CCTV video. After Allah was convicted by a jury he was sentenced to five years in prison with a 2-1/2 year minimum before he would be eligible for parole. Allah was given credit for the time he had already served in jail. On April 4, 2015 the New Jersey Court of Appeals reversed Divine C. Allah's conviction on the basis the trial judge erred by denying the defense motion to dismiss his indictment as defective because the grand jury was presented with false evidence about the existence of CCTV video of Allah's booking that in fact did not exist."
Conviction Caused By:	Judge erred in failing to dismiss indictment obtained with false testimony.
Innocence Proved By:	"On April 4, 2015 the New Jersey Court of Appeals reversed Divine C. Allah's conviction on the basis the trial judge erred by denying the defense motion to dismiss his indictment as defective because the grand jury was presented with false evidence about the existence of CCTV video of Allah's booking that in fact did not exist."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	38
Age When Released:	42
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"State of New Jersey vs. Divine C. Allah, No. A-5514-12T2 (NJ Ct. of Appeals, 4-4-2016) (Reversing conviction based on defective indictment.)"
Information Location 1:	http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a5514-12.pdf
Information Source 2:	"Drug conviction tossed over discarded video footage, By Kevin Shea, NJ.com, April 4, 2016"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2016/04/drug_conviction_tossed_over_discarded_police_video.html
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Divine C. Allah

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

5 yrs with 2-1/2 yrs min.

Years Imprisoned:

3.5

Year Crime:

2010

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2016

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New Jersey

County or Region of Crime:

Mercer

City of Crime:

Trenton

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Judge erred in failing to dismiss indictment obtained with false testimony.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

38

Age When Released:

42

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"State of New Jersey vs. Divine C. Allah, No. A-5514-12T2 (NJ Ct. of Appeals, 4-4-2016) (Reversing conviction based on defective indictment.)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a5514-12.pdf

Information Source 2:

"Drug conviction tossed over discarded video footage, By Kevin Shea, NJ.com, April 4, 2016"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2016/04/drug_conviction_tossed_over_discarded_police_video.html

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