Defense for accused murderer Laken Riley seeks to exclude vital evidence from murder investigation

A judge has rejected a delay in the trial of the migrant suspected of killing Laken Riley.

Patrick Haggard, a judge at Athens-Clarke Superior Court in Georgia, announced the decision Friday after Jose Ibarra’s lawyers fought to have the proceedings stayed.

They did so by proposing to exclude DNA evidence in a case related to a February murder on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus.

He saw Ibarra, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly chase and strangle a 22-year-old woman while she was on her morning jog.

Riley, a nursing student at nearby Augusta University, was found near her apartment after a friend called police, sparking an investigation that culminated in Ibarra’s arrest.

Following Judge Haggard’s refusal, the trial is still scheduled to begin on November 13th.

“I tried to understand the data, but I couldn’t do it,” defense attorney Dustin Kirby reportedly told the judge during his failed attempt to stop the trial.

The lawyer continued to testify about TrueAllele, a computerized DNA system developed by the technology company Cybergenetics that helped in the case.

The unknown evidence collected by the system included DNA, fingerprints and cellphone data, lawyers for both sides said, citing how it had been analyzed by investigators and was poised to emerge during this month’s trial.

Kirby argued that the items were collected illegally by law enforcement and that the defense team also needed time to bring in its own expert to analyze the evidence.

Unconvinced, Haggard told Kirby and other lawyers hired by Ibarra that he would not delay trial on such issues.

Offering some respite, he said he would leave open the option for the defense to provide its own expert before deciding against reopening the case as usual beyond that.

That set the stage for a trial that would take place after election week, inextricably linked to the more complex situation at the US border where Ibarra had gained access to the country.

He was arrested the day after the murder at his South Milledge Avenue apartment and has since pleaded not guilty to 10 charges.

These include malice murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and other crimes for which he could face life in prison when all is said and done.

The investigation following his arrest revealed how he entered the country illegally through El Paso in late 2022.

He was subsequently detained by border guards, but was quickly released due to lack of space.

A few months later, he was arrested in New York – this time for riding a gas moped with a five-year-old child on his back without a helmet or seat belt.

Despite the violation in August 2023, he was later released again, opening the door for him to travel to Georgia to live with his brother Diego.

Federal authorities found that Diego, the suspect’s older brother, had bragged about connections to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela, which the feds say is trying to gain a foothold in the United States.

Homeland security investigators soon discovered online photographs of Diego giving gang signals, as well as numerous identifying tattoos such as stars, watches, trains, guns and crowns.

Other photographs show him with a firearm, even though illegal immigrants in the United States are legally prohibited from owning guns.

Meanwhile, his younger brother’s defense recently requested a change of venue due to widespread media coverage of the case – a request also denied by Judge Haggard while the case goes to trial.

Prosecutors said he pulled Riley’s clothes to rape her, then hit her in the head and strangled her.

He will remain held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail without bond, officials said.

His trial will take place in just over a week.