Another Loyola Project for the Innocent Client Walks Free
Loyola’s Project for the Innocent (LPI) is thrilled to announce that Johnathon Ramos has been released after eight years in prison and is back home with his family.
At the age of 21, Johnathon was a promising college student working at the Apple Store. After experiencing severe depression, he was prescribed a medication that is known to trigger psychotic episodes in certain individuals. After taking the medication, Jonathan suffered an episode, during which he assaulted a friend. As a result, Johnathon was sentenced to life in prison.
With nowhere else to turn, Johnathon and his family reached out to LPI for help. After reading his file and getting to know Johnathon and his family, we knew that this young man could not spend the rest of his life in prison. We went to work and used DNA testing to establish Johnathon’s genetic predisposition to react adversely to the medication, which confirmed that he was a victim of medication-induced psychosis.
Not one to sit idly, Johnathon has made the most of the past eight years while waiting for today to come. He completed his undergraduate degree with a 4.0 GPA and has inspired great optimism in those who have worked with him, from LPI to the Los Angeles Federal Public Defender’s Office. As Loyola Law School student and LPI staffer Audrey Abergel puts it, “Johnathon intentionally chose to better himself in every capacity.”
The LPI team never gives up. I want to especially thank our dear friends, Raj Shah and Joe Trigilio, who served as co-counsel for this case and who fought alongside us every step of the way. I also want to thank you, our donors and friends, for the resources that allowed us to secure the DNA testing that ultimately set Johnathon free. I have said it before and I will say it again, you make this work possible. Your generosity saved another life and reunited a family.
Thank you for all that you do for Loyola’s Project for the Innocent. If you would like to make a gift to LPI and help us in our fight for justice, please click here.