Laken Riley murder case: Bench trial begins Friday for accused killer Jose Ibarra

ATHENS, Ga. — The trial begins Friday for Jose Antonio Ibarra in the murder of Laken Riley, but the court setup will be different than most trials.

Rather than have prosecutors and defense counsel present evidence to a jury, lawyers will only have to convince a judge.

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Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial on Tuesday, which moved the proceedings to a bench trial instead of a jury trial.

Ibarra stands accused of attacking and killing Riley on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Feb. 22 while she was jogging.

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In the initial court proceedings, attorneys representing Ibarra took multiple actions to try to move the venue of the case out of Athens due to media coverage and public attention.

They also made requests to suppress genetic evidence, fingerprint evidence and technological evidence from Ibarra’s social media accounts and phone.

The judge denied those motions.

Prosecutors have chosen not to seek the death penalty. They will present their evidence that the Venezuelan undocumented migrant attacked Riley, asphyxiated her and tried to sexually assault her, killing her in the process.

Now, the bench trial begins in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard’s Court, where he will hear and decide the outcome after attorneys present their cases.

WHAT IS A BENCH TRIAL?

A bench trial is where the case is made before the judge instead of a jury. The judge will hear the opening statements, evidence, testimony and closing arguments and render a verdict.

Channel 2 Action News spoke to a criminal defense attorney not connected to the case, who said Ibarra’s bench trial is not a typical request.

“In a murder case, it is very unusual to do a bench trial,” Noah Pines said. “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.”

Cases with a bench trial are usually resolved more quickly. Judges can be more neutral than jurors since they apply the law and aren’t easily swayed by irrelevant evidence.

On the other hand, juries can be unpredictable, whether it’s in favor of or against the defendant, since it is not just one person deciding the verdict.

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