Attorneys for Jonathan Nakhla, the former Mobile neurosurgeon convicted of murder earlier this year in a fatal 2020 crash, have filed a motion seeking a new trial, according to court documents.
Nakhla was found guilty in March for the death of Samantha Thomas, a University of South Alabama medical student, in a crash that occurred in the early hours of August 1, 2020. He was initially charged with manslaughter, a count that was upgraded to murder in September 2021. After a trial that began February 27, 2023, a jury deliberated one day before convicting him, and on April 20 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Juror Residency Question
The new-trial motion rests on a claim that one juror did not meet the requirement of living in Mobile County for the 12 months before and during the trial. Defense attorneys point to service attempts by Mobile County Sheriff’s deputies at a Mobile address in 2023, when the woman was reportedly never present; a deputy later documented that she had moved. The motion also cites a 2020 state tax lien filed against the juror listing an address in Daphne, in Baldwin County, along with a 2021 notice sent to that same address.
Prosecutors Respond
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said the filing is not unusual. “A motion for a new trial isn’t uncommon but we are confident the conviction will be upheld,” Blackwood said.
In a statement, Christiana Hoff, Thomas’s stepmother, dismissed the motion as frivolous, saying the jury unanimously convicted Nakhla after weeks of testimony and asserting that he was driving at excessive speed while intoxicated at the time of the crash — allegations prosecutors presented during the trial.