ATLANTA – A small-town department’s “malicious” police work led to a Georgia man spending more than two decades behind bars despite DNA evidence that should have exonerated him much sooner, according to a new lawsuit.
Witnesses said Sandeep “Sonny” Bharadia was some 250 miles away during the November 2001 home invasion and sexual assault of a young teacher in the town of Thunderbolt, just outside Savannah.
Although investigators had reason to believe Bharadia wasn’t involved in the crime, they pushed forward with a case against him anyway, cutting a deal with the “career criminal” whose DNA would appear on key evidence in later tests, according to the lawsuit. That person’s testimony helped solidify the case against Bharadia, court records show…