A judge in Athens, Georgia, heard testimony on Friday from a DNA expert retained by Jose Ibarra’s attorneys as Ibarra sought a new trial after his conviction in the killing of nursing student Laken Riley. Ruth Ballard, who was called as an expert for the defense, told the court she could not rule out the possibility that Ibarra’s DNA was transferred onto a jacket and other evidence she reviewed. She also acknowledged during questioning by a prosecutor that she had not finished a complete review of the case.
Ballard’s testimony came after Ibarra’s trial attorneys asked the judge to delay a hearing that had been scheduled weeks before Ibarra’s November trial. The defense said the expert needed about six weeks to review the data and complete a report, according to the account of the proceedings. Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard declined the delay request and proceeded with the trial on schedule.
In her testimony, Ballard said she could not exclude the possibility of indirect DNA transfer onto the evidence. Under prosecutor questioning, she acknowledged that she had written that a “reasonable explanation” for the crime lab findings in the case was that Ibarra’s DNA got onto the evidence when he killed Riley. Ibarra sat at a table with his attorneys during the hearing while he was dressed in a white jumpsuit.
The judge did not rule immediately on Ibarra’s request to vacate his guilty verdict and life sentence and grant a new trial. Instead, Haggard gave the attorneys another month to file legal arguments. Prosecutors decided before trial not to seek the death penalty, and Haggard found Ibarra guilty of murder and other charges in November after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.
The case dates to the killing that prosecutors said occurred during a struggle on Feb. 22, 2024, when Riley was running on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Riley was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Atlanta. Ibarra, 28, had entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay while pursuing his immigration case, the reporting said. Riley’s killing heightened tensions in the national immigration debate, including after President Donald Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act, which the reporting said was inspired by the killing.
Ibarra’s lawyers have argued that his constitutional rights were violated in parts of the trial process, including the denial of the request to delay the hearing. They have also challenged the admission of cellphone evidence that the defense sought to exclude. Under Georgia law, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of a conviction becoming final, which is the date of sentencing or the date of the denial of a motion for a new trial, whichever is later, the reporting said.
After filing a motion for a new trial within weeks of his conviction, Ibarra’s case later saw new lawyers take over and file an amended motion for a new trial earlier this month. Before trial, Ibarra’s lawyers asked the judge not to allow evidence stemming from the search of two cellphones the state believed belonged to him, arguing the warrants were invalid because police lacked probable cause. Haggard rejected those arguments, according to the reporting.
Ibarra’s defense also sought to exclude evidence and expert testimony tied to the use of TrueAllele Casework, software used to analyze DNA. Ballard’s testimony on Friday addressed her review of DNA-related evidence, while the broader dispute over forensic methods and cellphone evidence continues to be part of the defense’s motion for a new trial.