The illegal immigrant who murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley just got a stunning legal break that could lead to a new trial.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national convicted of killing Riley in a brutal February 2024 daylight attack on the University of Georgia campus, has been granted a court-ordered mental evaluation.
The ruling came from Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard, who sentenced Ibarra to life without parole just months ago.
According to the New York Post, the judge’s decision could help Ibarra argue that he was mentally unfit to stand trial, potentially overturning his conviction.
Ibarra’s attorneys claimed, he has is “suffering from congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial.”
If the state finds any merit to that claim, it could open the door for a retrial.
Ibarra waived his right to go before a jury and opted for a bench trial.
As ABC News noted at the time, the now-convicted killer was asked by the judge if he understood the waiver was done “freely, knowingly and intelligently signed and considered.”
Ibarra answered that he understood, and his legal team raised no objection.
Did this judge make a mistake?
Haggard heard the case and found Ibarra guilty before handing him a sentence of life in prison.
Ibarra was convicted in November 2024 of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape.
Despite that conviction, the new ruling means Ibarra’s defense team now gets a second shot at the expense of taxpayers.
Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was released multiple times under sanctuary policies before eventually ending up in Georgia.
Riley was just 22 when she was attacked while jogging last February near the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens — a sanctuary city.
Authorities said Ibarra, a Tren de Aragua member, dragged her into a wooded area, beat her with a rock, and left her to die.
As The Western Journal previously reported, Democrats have repeatedly downplayed Riley’s death, even refusing to name her in public statements.
Congressional Democrats refused to stand for her in March when President Donald Trump cited her case while addressing a joint session.
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, previously said of Ibarra, “This monster took away our chances to see Laken graduate from nursing school. He took away our ability to meet our future son-in-law,” according to CNN.
“He destroyed our chances of meeting our grandchildren,” she added. “And he took my best friend.”
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