The illegal immigrant who was convicted of killing Laken Riley has lost his bid for a new trial.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who had a police record even before he killed Riley in February 2024 while she was running on the Athens campus of the University of Georgia, had been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
On Monday, Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard threw out the request for a new trial, saying the evidence against him was “overwhelming and powerful,” according toCBS News.
Haggard had presided over the bench trial in November 2024 after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.
No new trial for man convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Rileyhttps://t.co/q8obWYKgB3
— Robert J Kingsbury (@RobertJKingsbu1)March 10, 2026
One basis for seeking a new trial was that Haggard had denied the defense a delay to allow for further examination of DNA evidence, according to theAssociated Press.
Haggard wrote in his Monday order that the defense “effectively challenged” the DNA evidence during the trial, and that Ibarra’s defense did not suffer after he did not grant the delay.
The DNA expert the defense hired testified during a January motion seeking a new trial.
Haggard said her presentation was neither persuasive nor credible and would not have changed the outcome of the trial.
Source: VidNews » Feed
