A Georgia judge denied a motion for a new trial for Jose Ibarra, saying the evidence presented of his guilt was “overwhelming and powerful.”

Ibarra was convicted of multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated ᴀssault with intent to rape for the death of Laken Riley. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, had been out for a run when she was attacked.

Ibarra appealed his conviction, arguing in part that his attorneys were not given enough time to analyze the DNA evidence against him. But Judge H. Patrick Haggard said that Ibarra’s attorney represented him capably and appeared to grasp the evidence.

“It appears to the Court, from the manner in which trial counsel questioned the expert at trial, that counsel had a sufficient knowledge and understanding of TrueAllele DNA and effectively cross-examined the expert on the topic. Trial counsel claims her argument as to this topic was ‘hampered’ because she was unable to secure and present a defense expert, but the Court finds that she effectively articulated flaws with TrueAllele in her closing argument.”

Judge Haggard noted in his opinion denying the motion that Ibarra’s appellate counsel failed to call his trial counsel as a witness when he heard arguments on the motion for a new trial in January. “Because appellate counsel elected not to call trial counsel at the motion for a new trial hearing, this Court will presume trial counsel’s actions are reasonable and a matter of trial strategy.”

While Ibarra’s motion had argued that his defense was impaired when the Court denied a motion for a continuance before his trial, Judge Haggard said they had plenty of time: the first TrueAllele DNA report was given to the defense in May 2024, but Haggard wrote in his opinion that the defense didn’t consult with an expert until October. Even after receiving the raw data from the DNA testing, the defense had more than a month before the start of the murder trial.