Courtney Clenney’s defense team claimed potential evidence could taint a jury and prevent her from having a fair and impartial trial
A judge denied an attorney's attempt to restrict potential evidence Tuesday in the case of a social media model who is accused of murdering her boyfriend in their Miami luxury apartment.
Courtney Clenney — known as Courtney Tailor by her more than 2 million followers — faces a second-degree murder charge for the stabbing death of Christian Obumseli back in April. Last month, she was arrested in Hawaii and entered a not guilty plea, claiming self-defense during a heated argument.
Clenney's attorney requested Tuesday that potential evidence that is normally public record be restricted, claiming that some of the content — text messages, surveillance video and explicit photos, for example — would be irrelevant to the case and prevent her from having a fair and impartial trial.
Her attorney cited that a widely circulated surveillance video that shows the couple fighting in an elevator is already doing damage to the defense’s case, saying the state’s attorney’s office released it without context.
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"Clearly, I think that the evidence showed the interest, in this case, is tremendous and that releasing any type of videos without context or any other types of audio recordings can be highly prejudicial," said defense attorney Frank Prieto
One of the defense's main concerns is that because of the nature of Clenney’s modeling career on OnlyFans, this case would be played out in the court of public opinion.
"That’s all noise. That just detracts from what this case is really about which is, on that day in April, she was fighting for her life," said defense attorney Sabrina Puglisi. "She did what she had to do because she was acting in self-defense.”
But both the state and a lawyer for the Miami Herald pushed back, citing Florida's open records laws and accusing the defense of seeking blanket preemptive relief.
The judge sided with the state and the Herald's attorney, not convinced by the defense’s argument that a fair and impartial jury couldn’t be selected.
"They’re asking to court to, frankly, allow them to control the narrative," assistant state attorney Khalil Quinan said during the hearing.
The next hearing isn’t expected until December. An exact court hearing date has not been set.
Clenney’s defense attorneys said they may file for bond as soon as next month.
