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Attorneys for man charged with killing Georgia nursing student ask judge to move trial

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Attorneys for man charged with killing Georgia nursing student ask judge to move trial
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Attorneys for man charged with killing Georgia nursing student ask judge to move trial

2024-08-03 02:19 Last Updated At:02:21

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Attorneys for a man accused of killing a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus have asked a judge to move the case to another county.

Finding an impartial jury in Athens-Clarke County to consider the murder and other charges against Jose Ibarra for the killing of Laken Hope Riley is impossible, attorneys John Donnelly and Kaitlyn Beck said in a court filing. A shackled Ibarra appeared in court on Friday dressed in a button-front shirt and slacks.

Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard said during the brief hearing that he was planning to start jury selection on Nov. 13 and then proceed with the trial the following week.

He gave prosecutors 10 days to respond to the request for a change of venue, which was filed on Thursday.

In the filing, Donnelly and Beck noted Riley was killed on the campus of the University of Georgia, a “prominent institution” in Athens, and said the case had received extensive media coverage locally.

A 2013 Georgia court decision found that a change of venue is proper in cases where media coverage is "'unduly extensive, factually incorrect, inflammatory, or reflective of an atmosphere of hostility,'" according to the filing.

A grand jury in early May returned an indictment charging Ibarra, 26, with murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other crimes in the February killing of Riley. The 10-count indictment accuses him of hitting the 22-year-old Augusta University College of Nursing student in the head, asphyxiating her and pulling up her clothing with the intent to rape her.

He pleaded not guilty in May.

The killing immediately became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration because Ibarra, who is from Venezuela, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, blamed Riley’s death on President Joe Biden and his border policies.

Riley’s body was found Feb. 22 near running trails after a friend told police she had not returned from a morning run, and police have said her killing appeared to be a random attack. Ibarra was arrested the next day and has been held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail without bond since then.

The indictment charges Ibarra with one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom.

The indictment says that on the day of Riley’s killing, Ibarra had peered into the window of an apartment in a university housing building, which is the basis for the peeping Tom charge.

In a separate filing on Thursday, Ibarra's attorneys said that charge should be tried separately from the others because the alleged victim is different.

FILE - Defense attorneys Kaitlyn Beck and John Donnelly present the not guilty plea for Jose Ibarra to sign during Ibarra's court appearance on Friday, May 31, 2024, in Athens, Ga. A man accused of killing a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus pleaded not guilty Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, to murder and other charges in her death. A grand jury in early May returned an indictment charging Jose Ibarra, 26, with murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other crimes in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley. (Nell Carroll/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File, Pool)

FILE - Defense attorneys Kaitlyn Beck and John Donnelly present the not guilty plea for Jose Ibarra to sign during Ibarra's court appearance on Friday, May 31, 2024, in Athens, Ga. A man accused of killing a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus pleaded not guilty Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, to murder and other charges in her death. A grand jury in early May returned an indictment charging Jose Ibarra, 26, with murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other crimes in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley. (Nell Carroll/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File, Pool)

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Japan's exports hit record high, but trade deficit continues

2025-01-23 13:16 Last Updated At:13:21

TOKYO (AP) — Japan saw record-high exports last year, as its annual trade deficit declined 44% from the previous year, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

The trade deficit, which measures the value of exports minus imports, totaled 5.3 trillion yen ($34 billion), according to government data, as imports ballooned on the back of rising energy costs and growing inflation around the world.

Exports from the world’s third-largest economy totaled 107.9 trillion yen ($691 billion), surpassing the 100 trillion yen mark for the second-straight year, and the biggest value on record for comparable data, which dates back to 1979, the ministry said.

Some companies may have sped up their exports in anticipation of potential tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has said he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb. 1. During his campaign, he threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China, although details on that remain unclear.

For the month of December, exports gained a greater-than-expected 2.8% on-year, while imports rose 1.8%. Exports grew to Asian and European nations, while dipping slightly to the U.S.

Imports grew most from India, Hong Kong and Iran.

Demand was especially strong for Japan's vehicles, semiconductors and other machinery.

The weakening yen, another recent trend, has the effect of inflating the value of imports. The U.S. dollar has been hovering at 150-yen levels, sometimes surpassing 160 yen, over the past year, while a year ago it was often at 140-yen levels.

Japan has recorded a trade deficit for four straight years, but last year's deficit was considerably smaller than the 9.5 trillion yen deficit for 2023.

FILE - Cars for export are parked at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on July 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

FILE - Cars for export are parked at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on July 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

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