John Jonchuck, the father who is convicted of throwing his daughter Phoebe to her death back in 2015 has requested a new trial.
At a status hearing in a Pinellas Count courtroom on Thursday, a judge granted the defense more time to file a new motion. There won’t be another hearing in the case until August 26.
Back in April, a jury found Jonchuck guilty of first-degree murder for throwing Phoebe off the Dick Misener bridge in Jan. 2015.
It took 14 days of testimony and six hours of deliberations to reach the verdict.
Jonchuck was immediately sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted.
A little over a week after the trial wrapped up, the defense filed a motion requesting a new trial. The document stated the prosecutor committed misconduct by making statements and offering no evidence in support of the statements to the jury.
At Thursday’s hearing, the defense said they wanted to amend the motion or file a new one but the new document was not ready. Judge Chris Helinger said it must be filed by close of business on June 21 or she would not hear it.
If the motion is filed, the motion will be heard on August 26 at 2 p.m.
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