Ian Diaz Seeks to Vacate 10-Year Conviction After 2025 Appeal Loss
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Magazine · Jul 29
Ian Diaz Seeks to Vacate 10-Year Conviction After 2025 Appeal Loss
1 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Magazine · Jul 29
Summary
February 2026 court filings show Ian Diaz is asking a federal judge to vacate his conviction or grant a new trial, and the petition was still pending after a July filing.
Diaz argues his trial lawyer was ineffective by failing to investigate, challenge testimony he says was false, and present evidence that could have weakened prosecutors' obstruction theory.
One key claim targets testimony about deleted email accounts, with Diaz contending investigators already had the emails through earlier warrants and his attorney should have exposed that at trial.
The government has been ordered to respond under a court briefing schedule; Diaz is serving 10 years and one month after his 2023 conviction, which survived a direct appeal in 2025.
Netflix documentary "A Toxic Love Story," now No. 2 on the platform's movie chart, has revived attention on the case, which stemmed from Michelle Hadley's 88-day wrongful jailing and Angela Diaz's 2017 guilty plea.