ATHENS, GA — A status hearing today is set for this morning in an Athens courtroom as lawyers for the man convicted of killing nursing student Laken Riley, 22, seek a new trial. The same judge who found Jose Ibarra, 26, guilty and sentenced him to life for the crime is presiding over Friday’s hearing.

Ibarra’s attorneys say the verdict in Judge Patrick Haggard’s bench trial last fall is contrary to the evidence in the case.

Riley was killed while jogging on the UGA campus in February of last year.

The older brother of Ibarra, Diego Ibarra, 29, was recently sentenced to federal prison for having fake green cards. He will be deported with another brother, Argenis Ibarra, 24, after his sentence is served.