A South Florida woman serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband's business partner was denied a retrial Friday.
Janepsy Carballo walked into to court in seemingly good spirits, waving to her family and sporting a small smile.
But the convicted killer, serving a life sentence, couldn’t have been too happy after Judge Teresa Mary Pooler made her ruling.
“I am denying a motion for retrial," Pooler said.
Carballo’s attorney, Bruce Fleisher, said they had evidence for why a new trial would be needed.
“There was an allegation of juror misconduct, that someone on the jury knew our client's sister but didn’t disclose it," he said.
Judge Pooler said she was more than willing to get to the bottom of things.
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“If in fact there was juror misconduct, I would grant a re-trial," she said.
Carballo was found guilty of first degree murder in November for killing Illam Nissim back in 2008.
Prosecutors said Carballo killed him out of revenge for the murder of her husband, Orlando Mesa. Mesa and their son were shot outside their home, their son was only injured.
It’s no secret according to the prosecution or defense Carballo always blamed Nissim. He and Mesa were business partners. Prosecutors say to get him back Carballo lured Nissim to her home, where she shot and killed him.
Her defense said that Nissim attacked her and she shot him out of self-defense.
Today, all her defense would have to do to keep the case alive in Pooler’s court was call a witness. But they say they shouldn’t have had to.
“We believe the case law permitted us or supported us in the fact we didn’t have to call that witness," Fleisher said.
Carballo will next ask for a re-trial in the court of appeals.
