LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – After a verdict ruled for a woman wrongfully convicted of murder, two Las Vegas police officers are asking for a new trial.
According to a new motion under Nevada’s district court, officers Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle submitted a motion for a new trial. This comes after a jury unanimously decided to award Kirstin Blaise Lobato $34 million in a lawsuit against Metro police.
Duran Bailey was murdered on July 8, 2001. Lobato was arrested in the case when she was 18 years old.
In 2006, Lobato was sentenced to 13 to 35 years in prison.
In 2017, a Nevada Supreme Court judge ordered for her charges to be dropped and Lobato to be released from prison. Her case was dismissed same year.
She was released from prison in 2018, she was 35.
A lawsuit against LVMPD was filed July 23, 2019.
She would receive a payout from LVMPD as well as punitive damages covered by Thowsen and LaRochelle for $10,000 each.
According to the motion filed Monday, the two Metro officers claim there was evidence presented during the trial that differ from the jury’s verdict.
It also claims there were other errors during the trial that impacted the defendant’s substantial rights.
“For these rights, defendants are entitled to a new trial,” the motion says.
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