LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Tiffany Moss, sentenced to death for killing her stepdaughter in 2013, appeared in a Gwinnett County courtroom Friday and says she now has a lawyer and wants a new trial.
Moss famously represented herself throughout her trial in April. Judge George Hutchinson repeatedly urged her to accept representation from the backup attorneys he appointed to her case but Moss refused.
“It’s always been concerning (Moss representing herself), but there’s also the issue that she made the choice in the end,” said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. “But that’s going to be clearly an important appellate issue down the road.”
Porter prosecuted the case against Moss. It took the jury just three hours to find her guilty of starving her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Emani Moss. She and her then-husband, Eman Moss, tried to burn the girl’s body to hide the crime. Police found the body in a trash can outside the family’s apartment.
During the trial, prosecutors showed evidence that the Moss fed and took care of her biological children while Emani was denied food.
Eman Moss took a plea deal and is serving life without the possibility of parole for his role in his daughter’s murder. He testified against Tiffany during her trial.
Emani Moss
Josh Moore, with the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender group, is representing Moss. Friday’s hearing was the first step in what will be a long process.
“It’ll move itself into the appellate process first with the Georgia Supreme Court,” explained Porter. “The judge is going to want to keep it on track because the Supreme Court has recently issued rules about motions for new trials and timing for those and not letting those lag so there’s going to be an impetus for keeping it going.”
Moore has not detailed the reasons for requesting a new trial. That will come later as the process moves along. The next hearing will likely be in February of 2020.
The judge will consider the reasons for the new trial and, ultimately, grant or deny the motion.
Moss was adamant throughout her trial that she represent herself, so 11Alive News asked Porter if he was surprised by her change of heart.
“I think that probably when the jury reached the verdict that they did that brought it home to her,” replied Porter. “So no, I wasn’t surprised she asked for help at that point. I think she may have realized the difficulty she was in at that point.”
More Tiffany Moss coverage: