Overview

• Judge Patrick Haggard directed a court-funded evaluation by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to assess Jose Ibarra’s fitness to stand trial and participate in appeals.
• Ibarra’s defense attorneys argue that a congenital impairment prevented him from comprehending the nature of the proceedings and assisting in his own defense.
• Prosecutor Sheila Ross acknowledged that no evidence of incompetence emerged during the bench trial but did not oppose the evaluation request.
• Ibarra was convicted in November of murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus based on DNA under her fingernails, his thumbprint on her phone, surveillance footage and digital pings.
• If the assessment deems him incompetent at the time of trial or appeals, his legal team could petition for a retrial and challenge his life without parole sentence.