MIAMI (Court TV) – Attorneys for Courtney Clenney have filed a motion to dismiss criminal charges against their client.
Clenney is charged with second-degree murder with a weapon in the April 3, 2022 stabbing death of her boyfriend, Christian Obumseli, during an argument at the couple’s Miami high-rise condo. Clenney, an OnlyFans model who goes by the name “Courtney Tailor” on social media, claims she acted in self-defense.
Courtney Clenney appears in court for a motions hearing on Oct. 18, 2024. (Court TV)
In documents obtained by Court TV, Clenney’s lawyers allege prosecutors unfairly accessed sensitive documents belonging to the defense team. They claim the documents lay out their entire defense strategy, and the prosecution should not have seen it.
The motion alleges that the sensitive documents also include data from outside the scope of the investigation, including content from the iCloud accounts of Clenney’s parents, Kim and Deborah Clenney, from 17 months prior to Obumseli’s stabbing death.
In addition, Clenney’s lawyers say the State “accessed privileged communications between attorneys Frank Prieto and Sabrina Puglisi, and their clients, Courtney Clenney, Kim Clenney, and Deborah Clenney, which occurred after Courtney Clenney’s incarceration. These communications took place in a group text titled ‘Team Courtney,’ involving the attorneys, their paralegal, investigator, and Kim and Deborah Clenney and Courtney Clenney prior to her arrest.”
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The “Team Courtney” chat included discussions about witness testimony, defense witnesses, expert witnesses, financial obligations, and defense theories, along with the defense’s thoughts and opinions on the case.
Earlier this year, Clenney’s attorneys asked a judge to disqualify the entire Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office following the withdrawal of Assistant State Attorney Khalil Quinan, who had been the lead prosecutor on the case. Quinan stepped down after the defense became aware that he had viewed and shared a privileged document of theirs titled “Courtney Checklist of Things to Do—Privileged.docx.”
The motion to dismiss further alleges that the prosecution committed a Brady violation by failing to disclose the fact that they knew of a witness by the name of Arthur Cup, who could have helped Clenney’s defense. Cup, who lived in the same building as Clenney and Obumseli, approached responding officers and relayed to them that he had seen Obumseli “wailing” on Clenney in the days leading up to his death.
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In addition, the defense claims prosecutors committed a Youngblood violation when they failed to disclose the fact that evidence that could have helped Clenney’s case was destroyed. The evidence that was destroyed was a series of photographs taken by a civilian witness, Danny Del Valle, who was the first person to respond to Clenney’s apartment after she called 911 on the night Obumseli died.
This image from surveillance video provided by the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office shows social media model Courtney Clenney and her boyfriend, Christian Obumseli inside the elevator of their apartment building Feb. 21, 2022. Clenney is accused of fatally stabbing Obumseli on April 3. (Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office)
Del Valle, who took photos of the scene before the arrival of EMS and police, stated in a deposition that responding officers ordered him to delete all recordings of the scene. Clenney’s attorneys argue that those photos and videos could have helped their case.
For example, they might have preserved Clenney’s first words upon the arrival of help, as well as “raw footage” of the scene “before it was adulterated by the arrival of police and fire rescue.” Clenney’s attorneys argue that the photos might have depicted blood spatter evidence that would have been helpful to the defense.
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Clenney’s attorneys called State’s actions “deliberate,” and accused the prosecution of being more concerned about victory than justice or adhering to rules. They said their client and others involved with the case, such as Clenney’s parents, aren’t certain they’ll receive a fair trial, thus they believe charges should be dropped altogether.
Clenney has been jailed awaiting trial since Aug. 2022, when she was arrested in Hawaii and extradited to Miami. Her trial is scheduled to begin on Dec. 1. Clenney is expected back in court on Oct. 10.
