Brutal murder case of Smith family to go to jury trial
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Malkhaz Kobauri, the 19-year-old Georgian shepherd accused of the brutal murder of American couple Ryan and Lora Smith and their four-year-old son on July 4 in the Khada Gorge, will be judged by jury trial.
The decision was made by Mtskheta court judge Vazha Pukhashvili yesterday.
“The accused Kobauri has publicly expressed his position that he wants his case to be judged by jury trial,” Pukhashvili said, adding that he had not received any factual or legal arguments from the defense side to suspend criminal prosecution against Kobauri.
Jury selection will take place on December 3 at the Gori district court.
Kobauri is facing life imprisonment if convicted.
The body of Lora Smith was the first to be found by a Georgian emergency response group on July 6, next to a waterfall in the Khada gorge.
The body of Ryan Smith was recovered on the second day. The Smiths’ son, Caleb, was not found for three days and only after the police detained Kobauri on July 9 did he show the spot to law enforcers where he had buried the child’s body.
The Smith family had been living in Georgia for more than six years and they received Georgian citizenship in 2012.
Independent lawyer David Girgvliani, who had previously defended the interests of 19-year-old Malkhaz Kobauri, the accused in the murder of Ryan and Lora Smith and their 4-year-old son in Khada Gorge of Georgia early this month, says that he is no longer the man’s lawyer.
A Mtskheta court in eastern Georgia has sent 19-year-old Georgian shepherd Malkhaz Kobauri to pre-trial detention today on charges of the premeditated murder of American couple Ryan and Lora Smith and their four-year-old son on July 4 in the Khada Gorge of Dusheti region of Georgia.
Lawyer Aleksandre Kobaidze, who represents the accused, 19-year-old Malkhaz Kobauri, says that his client is mentally fit.
The Interior Ministry of Georgia has confirmed the death of American couple Ryan and Lora Smith and their 4-year-old son Caleb in the Khada Gorge, Dusheti region of Georgia.
Gori District Court in eastern Georgia has began a trial regarding the high profile murder case of the Smith family in Georgia in the summer of last year. A verdict for the 19-year old shepherded Malkhaz Kobauri will be delivered by the jury, as the latter is accused of the murder of Ryan Smith, four-year-old Caleb Smith and the rape and murder of Lora Smith.
Malkhaz Kobauri, accused of brutally murdering the Smith Family in eastern Georgia in the summer of last year, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.He and his family members reacted with protest to the prison term, calling it ‘unfair’.
A jury trial will decide the fate of Merab Kobiashvili, who was detained for murdering Tamaz Gortamashvili and injuring Gortamashvili’s friend, Davit Seturidze, in Georgia’s mountain resort town of Gudauri on February 16, 2020.
Merab Kobiashvili, who had been in pre-trial detention for murdering Tamaz Gortamashvili and injuring Gortamashvili’s friend, David Seturidze, has been released from the courtroom today as the term of his pre-trial detention came to an end and a sufficient number of jurors could not be selected for a jury trial.