Jose Ibarra Asks For New Trial After Laken Riley Murder Conviction

A memorial to Laken Riley at Lake Allyn Herrick on the campus of the University of Georgia on June 7, 2024, in Athens, Georgia. On February 22, 2024, Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was killed while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Her body was found in Oconee Forest Park near the lake. The suspect, José Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, had reportedly entered the US illegally. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP) (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
A memorial to Laken Riley at Lake Allyn Herrick on the campus of the University of Georgia on June 7, 2024, in Athens, Georgia. On February 22, 2024, Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was killed while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Her body was found in Oconee Forest Park near the lake. The suspect, José Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, had reportedly entered the US illegally. (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
1:27 PM – Wednesday, December 4, 2024

The violent illegal migrant who murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has asked a judge for a new trial after being sentenced to life in prison last month for his heinous crimes. 

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Lawyers for Jose Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela, submitted a two-page court filing on Tuesday asking Judge H. Patrick Haggard to set aside the verdict and penalty he ruled on during the bench trial.

Ibarra entered into the United States illegally through El Paso, Texas, on September 8th, 2022, under the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The filing alleges that the judge’s decision was “contrary to law” and “to the evidence” and that the judge “committed other errors of law that necessitate a new trial.” 

Additionally, the court papers do not elaborate further, but do ask the judge to leave the door open for the defense to “review the facts and circumstances” at trial in order to potentially flesh the request out further at a later date.

Meanwhile, the motion for a new trial is a necessary first step for the defense team to take before they can file an appeal. 

On November 20th, Haggard convicted Ibarra of all 10 counts he faced, which included multiple counts of murder, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and Peeping Tom charges.

During the four day trial, which featured 29 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses, prosecutors argued that Ibarra, 26, brutally beat and asphyxiated Riley, 22, on February 22nd after attempting to rape her while she was out jogging near the University of Georgia campus in Athens. 

Furthermore, Riley fought for her life for an estimated 18 minutes against her killer, whom prosecutors said was planning to sexually assault her, but she still fought hard for her life to prevent it.

Ibarra’s fingerprint was found on Riley’s phone and his DNA was discovered under her fingernails, prosecutors say.

However, Ibarra’s lawyers argued that the fingerprint and DNA evidence analysis was unreliable, attempting to pin the murder on Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, claiming Jose’s body didn’t match the one seen on surveillance footage. 

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