ATHENS, Ga. — The fate of the man accused of murdering a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus is now in the hands of the judge.
The suspect in the Laken Riley murder trial waived his right to a jury trial and instead requested a trial by judge.
The motion came during a pretrial hearing for Jose Ibarra on Tuesday. Jury selection had been scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The judge granted the motion for a bench trial, which will begin Friday at 9 a.m.
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This means that Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will listen to the evidence and render a verdict.
“In a murder case, it’s very unusual to do a bench trial,” said criminal defense attorney Noah Pines, who’s not connected to the case, but has represented numerous high-profile defendants across the state. “I think the reason that the defense wanted to do that in this case is they want to be able to preserve some legal issues.”
Pines says that bench trials can be favorable for defendants because without a jury, it takes the emotion out of it, but it can also be an advantage for the prosecution.
“It’s much easier to convince one person to find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt than to convince 12 people,” he said.
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Investigators said Ibarra killed Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, on Feb. 22 while she was out jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus. Ibarra entered a plea of not guilty.
There have been several motions in the case over the past few months.
Defense attorneys representing Ibarra filed a motion in September to suppress evidence collected in the days and months after Riley’s death. The motion claims some evidence seized by authorities was collected in “an unlawful manner.”
A judge ruled last week that prosecutors can use evidence such as fingerprints on Ibarra’s phones and ruled the search warrants were properly executed.
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