State prosecutors can use evidence that was tossed from a separate case, in the murder trial of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Clenney, 28, was charged with the stabbing death of her boyfriend Christian “Toby” Obumseli, 27, inside their bayside Miami condo in April 2022. Last January, after a judge signed a warrant allowing prosecutors to seize text messages and emails as evidence, the state used info gathered during the investigation to charge Clenney and her parents Kim and Deborah Clenney with illegally accessing Obumseli’s computer.
But that case fell apart in June when Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Laura Shearon Cruz tossed the electronic communications obtained by the state, saying it had violated attorney-client privilege. Shearon Cruz determined that some of the texts and emails included correspondence between Courtney Clenney and family members and the attorneys who represented both. That led to the state dropping the charges in the computer hacking case.
During Wednesday’s hearing, attorney Jude Faccidomo, who represents Clenney’s parents, called the texts “broad and vast and very, very private.” He urged Shearon Cruz to block the evidence, calling it a “slippery slope” when warrants don’t narrow searches to just items related to an alleged crime.
Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Khalil Quinan told Shearon Cruz that though his office could view all the evidence, the judge has the right to question any texts or emails she believes are outside the scope of the case. Faccidomo asked that the court not release the texts and emails until the ruling is appealed within 10 days. Shearon Cruz agreed.
Courtney Clenney was arrested in August 2022 and charged with second-degree murder in Obumseli’s stabbing death. She was arrested four months after the stabbing and while she was in Hawaii rehabilitating for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since the arrest, Clenney’s attorneys have argued she was defending herself when Obumseli was killed.
The couple’s two-year relationship had always been rocky. She was arrested for domestic battery in Las Vegas and police visited her Austin, Texas, home several times. After the stabbing in their Edgewater apartment in Miami, Clenney made a frantic call to Miami Police, who investigated the alleged crime for four months before making an arrest.
The murder case involving the young jet-setting couple drew international media attention and a television special by the celebrity website TMZ. Obumseli was a a crypto-currency trader. Courtney Clenney, at one point, boasted more than 2 million followers on social media.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.