Prosecutors within the Laken Riley case are preventing again in opposition to the homicide suspect’s bid to suppress sure proof – together with movies authorities declare present the accused ditching key proof shortly after the nursing pupil was killed.
Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra, 26, pled not responsible in Might to 10 counts linked with the homicide of Riley, 22, who was killed Feb. 22 whereas out for her morning run on the College of Georgia campus in Athens.
In August, Ibarra requested a listening to to doubtlessly suppress a listing of proof, together with cell telephones, a cheek swab and social media accounts – that he claimed have been unlawfully obtained by the police once they entered his residence with out a search warrant.
In a brand new submitting submitted this week, prosecutors argued that they had grounds to enter Ibarra’s property partly resulting from two movies that matched his description, Fox Information reported.
The primary concerned an alleged incident during which Ibarra was trying by way of a window of an on-campus residence and spying on a college workers member the identical day Riley was killed. “One video was taken from close to and round College Village housing constructing ‘S’ that was related to the peeping Tom incident,” the submitting said.
The second video was taken from close to Ibarra’s Athens residence advanced, prosecutors mentioned.
“The opposite video was taken on the Dumpster of the residence advanced that abuts UGA property and is lower than one-half mile away from the place Laken Riley was murdered.”
The footage taken on the Dumpster, “depicts a Latino male disposing of a bloody jacket with lengthy darkish hair on it and bloody gloves lower than half-hour after the homicide of Laken Riley and inside a half mile from her physique,” the submitting mentioned.
“The Dumpster video additional exhibits the Latino male was carrying a black baseball cap with a white Adidas emblem, white script beneath the brand, and a sticker on the invoice of the hat,” prosecutors mentioned.
Lower than 12 hours later, Athens-Clarke County Sheriff’s Workplace sergeant supposedly stumbled on a person close to the residence advanced carrying an “an identical’” hat.
The officer spoke with the person, who recognized himself as Jose Ibarra’s brother, Diego, Fox reported.
Diego Ibarra was detained till one other officer, who was fluent in Spanish, arrived on the scene.
At that time, the authorities believed that they had possible trigger that proof of Riley’s homicide may very well be contained in the residence that Jose and Diego Ibarra shared with a 3rd brother.
The police couldn’t waste time searching for a warrant, the prosecution claimed, however determined fast motion was required “to safe the residence pending the appliance of a search warrant for concern of further destruction of proof.”
“To require the officers on this case to stay outdoors defendant’s residence whereas unknown events inside continued to destroy proof of the homicide because the officers obtained a search warrant would defy widespread sense and be patently unreasonable,” prosecutors added.
The prosecution additionally shot down Ibarra’s request to exclude testimony from a witness who carried out DNA testing throughout Riley’s post-mortem, Fox famous.
The DNA proof within the case got here from Riley’s fingernails, discarded bloody gloves, a black Adidas baseball cap and a blue jacket, the prosecution claimed.
All the materials, they mentioned, “report a match statistic that can support the jury in its dedication of the guilt or innocence of defendant for the crimes charged within the indictment.”
Ibarra was additionally supposedly recognized by way of a thumbprint that was left on Riley’s cellular phone.
