Judge denies motion to suppress evidence in trial against man accused of killing Laken Riley
Judge denies motion to suppress evidence in trial against man accused of killing Laken Riley
Ibarra’s trial is currently set to begin on November 13.
ATHENS, Ga. — An Athens judge has denied three motions to suppress evidence in the trial against the suspect accused of killing Laken Riley, a nursing student on University of Georgia’s campus, back in February.
The ruling comes after a pretrial hearing last week, where Judge Patrick Haggard heard arguments from Jose Ibarra’s attorneys challenging some of the evidence prosecutors say they have against him, including cell phone data, DNA from Riley’s fingernails, and fingerprints found on her phone.
Defense attorneys wanted to keep that evidence from coming up at trial, but Judge Haggard struck down their motion, ruling that the evidence was legally obtained.
During the evidentiary hearing, Prosecutor Sheila Ross questioned an FBI agent who had seized two cell phones and collected data. Prosecutors argued the evidence was collected lawfully using multiple warrants.
However, Ibarra’s attorneys disagreed, questioning the methods investigators used to collect data from the phones.
Defense attorneys also asked the judge to stop the jury from seeing specific DNA evidence, but the effort ultimately failed.
Jury selection is expected to begin in the trial on Wednesday, Nov. 13.