aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Nathan Ybanez files for new trial

The story of the murder convictions and life sentences of Nathan Ybanez and his friend, Erik Jensen, was among the most moving of those told in the Frontline documentary, When Kids Get Life.

Ybanez has filed court papers asking for a new trial. The Denver Post:

Attorneys for Nathan Ybanez, convicted of killing his mother a decade ago, have made their bid for a new trial, claiming in Douglas County District Court that his trial counsel was poor and revealing additional evidence that the then-16-year-old Ybanez was abused.

The 35-page court filing also raises questions about why Department of Human Services officials did not investigate what his attorneys called an “ultra-abusive” home.

Prior to the homicide and after running away from his Highlands Ranch apartment once, Nathan revealed that his dad “tried to strangle him” and that “he was afraid to go home,” social-services records show.

Yet no government inquiry ensued, and jurors never knew about it.

His initial lawyer, Craig Truman, should have obtained that file, according to his new Denver legal team, Davis Graham & Stubbs.

“To prepare for trial, Nathan’s attorney did virtually nothing,” reads the motion, which was filed Friday.