MIAMI — Lawyers for the OnlyFans model accused of murdering her boyfriend in Miami won’t seek to exhume the slain man’s body.
They made the announcement Friday after originally asking a judge to compel the Medical Examiner’s Office to allow a defense expert to inspect the body of Christian “Toby” Obumseli. But defense lawyers for Courtney Clenney withdrew the request Friday after learning — from a Miami Herald article — that Obumseli has already been buried in his home state of Texas.
After a brief court hearing on Friday, defense attorneys Frank Prieto and Sabrina Puglisi told reporters they were not inclined to seek a court order to dig up Obumseli’s body.
“If the gentleman is already buried, we do not want to disturb that,” Prieto said.
Clenney, 26, is charged with murder in the April 3 stabbing death of Obumseli inside the couple’s luxury high-rise Miami apartment. The case of the social-media influencer, who boasted millions of followers on Instagram and OnlyFans, has drawn worldwide media attention.
Clenney remains jailed in Hawaii awaiting extradition to face trial in Miami-Dade County.
Prosecutors have painted Clenney as the aggressor against the unarmed Obumseli, saying she had a long history of attacking him during their stormy relationship.
Clenney, however, has claimed self-defense in fatally stabbing Obumseli. Prieto said she was the true domestic-violence victim.
“The evidence is going to show in this case that she was harassed, gaslighted and Mr. Obusmeli would never leave her alone, would try and eavesdrop on all of her conversations” Prieto said after the hearing.
Also on Friday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diana Vizcaino said she will set a hearing, sometime in the next couple of weeks, to consider limiting the release of evidence in the case.
Prieto asked a judge to set a hearing to limit the release of “discovery,” or evidence in the case, ripping State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle for releasing surveillance video of Clenney attacking Obumseli in an elevator two months before the killing.
In Florida, much of the state’s evidence is generally public record once it’s been given to defense lawyers. Certain evidence, such as confessions, autopsy photos and bank records, are generally exempt from public disclosure.
He asked that the judge seal all evidence in the case until she can review it “to determine their relevance, probative value, potential prejudice and admissibility.”
The Miami Herald is objecting to the measure, saying it was overbroad. In opposing the move, Herald attorney Scott Ponce wrote it was “implausible to suggest that public disclosure of the discovery will taint the citizens of a county as large as Miami-Dade County to such a degree that it will be impossible to empanel an impartial jury for a trial of this action.”
The State Attorney’s Office is also objecting, saying the request was premature. Prosecutor Khalil Quinan, in a response, wrote that Prieto himself has given numerous statements to the media while trying to limit lawful public records disclosures to news organizations. Quinan called the attempt “another attention-grabbing effort by a media hungry defendant.”
