Beck made an effort to Forged doubt with a method of DNA testing accustomed to test a number of the evidence. She mentioned that when a fingerprint located on Riley’s phone was entered into a database, Ibarra didn’t come back being a match plus a specialist visually matched the prints.
Defense attorneys referred to as a law enforcement officer, a jogger and certainly one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their situation Wednesday early morning.
Just in advance of disturbing body cam footage taken from your cop who observed Riley’s lifeless overall body was about to be played with the courtroom, Judge H. Patrick Haggard — who's deciding the demo, instead of a jury — warned Everybody that they might depart In the event the footage could be way too upsetting.
UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark mentioned he didn't think Ibarra experienced any connection to Riley prior to her killing. “He did not know her in the slightest degree. I do think this is the crime of opportunity exactly where he saw a person and undesirable factors took place,” said Clark. Clark called the evidence from Ibarra “sturdy.” “It's supported by crucial enter by the Group, Actual physical proof and qualified police function. Importantly, we had been assisted by video footage from our campus security cameras community.”
"These are typically just minimal snippets that we observed from the investigation that we assumed would be crucial to share Along with the court docket that displays not simply the sort of individual that she was -- that you only read from her friends and family -- however the real affect that her murder experienced on her dad and mom," Ross reported.
Clark explained Riley’s killing for a "criminal offense of prospect, where he saw somebody and undesirable matters transpired," and explained the killing gave the impression to be a solo act.
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"Whilst the evidence in this case is voluminous, it's circumstantial," defense lawyer Kaitlyn Beck informed the judge.
Incorporating to The problem of grieving will be the national Highlight on her Loss of life, which only exploded subsequent Biden's State in the Union address.
The defense referred to as 3 witnesses, which include a neighbor who said Diego Ibarra had threatened her the evening of Riley's murder.
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When Jose Ibarra was questioned by law enforcement on a daily basis once the murder, he had noticeable scratches on his arms, officers explained. He also experienced scratches on his neck and back again, which Ross explained might have only been still left by Riley.
Ibarra was arrested the following working day and booked devoid of bond while in the Athens-Clarke County Jail. Police have mentioned Riley's killing appeared to be a random assault. Even so the indictment returned by a Georgia grand jury in May perhaps thorough a gruesome confrontation through which Ibarra allegedly asphyxiated the coed, hit her more than The pinnacle by using a rock to the point of disfiguring her cranium, and pulled up her apparel, intending to rape her.
Kirby said the decide shouldn’t take the conclusions surrounding the DNA, fingerprints and various proof.