by Eric Lendrum
On Tuesday, the illegal alien who has been accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley elected not to face a trial by jury, and instead have his guilt determined by the judge overseeing the case.
As Fox News reports, 26-year-old Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan illegal, was arrested for the murder of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia Athens (UGA) while she was out for a morning jog on February 22nd. His lawyers asked Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard for a bench trial rather than a jury trial. Judge Haggard agreed, with the trial set to begin on Friday.
“This defendant wishes to seek a trial by judge only — a bench trial,” said state prosecutor Sheila Ross in court. “When I was notified of that, the parties have executed a waiver of his right to a trial by jury, and the state has agreed to a bench trial so long as the trial remains before Your Honor and no senior judges are brought in. I believe we will commence the trial very shortly, so I think that will happen.”
Ibarra lived in an on-campus apartment building at the time along with his brothers, who are also illegals. He was indicted by a grand jury in May on charges of malice murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence, among other crimes. UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark described the murder as a “crime of opportunity.”
Ibarra is due back in court on November 15th. Had he elected a jury trial, jury selection would have begun on Wednesday, November 13th.
Ibarra first entered the United States illegally in September of 2022, where he was released into the country on parole as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-borders policy. As such, the Laken Riley case became a national rallying cry for politicians and activists who want to secure the border and crack down on illegal immigration. It became a top issue in the 2024 presidential election, where former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris on a platform that vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history.
In addition to the charges of murder for Jose Ibarra, his older brother Diego is also facing charges of green card fraud and having ties to the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). TdA had come to national prominence when dozens of its members began a coordinated terrorist campaign of seizing control of numerous apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. The gang members stormed into apartments, terrorized residents, assaulted staff, and began taking “rent” payments from the residents for themselves.
– – –
Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
