Judge orders mental evaluation for Venezuelan man convicted of killing Laken Riley

ATLANTA AP A judge has ordered a mental evaluation of the Venezuelan man convicted of killing Georgia nursing aspirant Laken Riley A judge in November ascertained Jose Ibarra guilty of murder and other crimes in Riley s February killing and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole Ibarra is seeking a new trial and his lawyers demanded the judge to order a mental evaluation as part of that process Clarke County Superior Court Judge H Patrick Haggard s order for a mental evaluation was sent to the state Department of Behavioral Fitness and Developmental Disabilities Tuesday according to a letter filed with the court Riley s killing became part of the national debate about immigration during last year s presidential campaign Ibarra had entered the U S illegally in and was allowed to stay while he pursued his immigration incident federal immigration executives noted after his arrest President Donald Trump in January signed into law the Laken Riley Act which requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes Prosecutors mentioned Ibarra encountered Riley while she was running on the University of Georgia campus on Feb and killed her during a struggle Riley was a scholar at Augusta University College of Nursing which also has a campus in Athens about miles kilometers east of Atlanta In a court filing last month Ibarra s post-conviction attorneys James Luttrell and David Douds explained they believe Ibarra suffers from congenital deficiency that could make him incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial Ibarra lacks the mental quota to understand the proceedings and his attorney wrote that he believes that was the affair at the time of the killing and at the time of trial Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial meaning it was up to Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H Patrick Haggard alone to hear and decide the situation A criminal defendant must personally and intelligently participate in the waiver of the constitutional right to a trial by jury Luttrell and Douds wrote noting that Ibarra s trial attorney did not ask for a competency evaluation Prosecutor Sheila Ross wrote in a court filing responding to the request that there were no challenges or concerns about Ibarra s competency prior to trial and that there is nothing in the trial record that would suggest that Defendant was not competent during his trial But she wrote that she does not oppose the request for a competency evaluation Haggard last week filed an order asking the Department of Behavioral Wellbeing and Developmental Disabilities to evaluate Ibarra with the aid of a Spanish-language interpreter He requested for findings on whether Ibarra was capable of understanding the pretrial proceedings involving the waiver of his right to a jury trial as well as the trial itself and whether he was capable of assisting his attorney to prepare his defense He also wants to know whether Ibarra understands the post-conviction proceedings and can aid in preparing his defense Ibarra was convicted on Nov and his attorneys filed a motion for a new trial on Dec Under Georgia law a notice of appeal must be filed within days of a conviction becoming final which is the date of sentencing or the denial of a motion for a new trial whichever is later Therefore the filing of a motion for a new trial effectively extends the deadline to file an appeal Source