NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney is trying to turn the tables on prosecutors before her murder trial, asking a Miami-Dade judge to block the state from using a string of alleged prior violent incidents to paint her as the aggressor.
Clenney, the OnlyFans model accused in the 2022 death of Christian Obumseli, will argue she acted “in self-defense and as a battered spouse,” according to newly filed defense motions in Miami-Dade criminal court reviewed by Fox News Digital.
In a July 1 filing, her lawyers asked a Miami-Dade judge to allow them to bring up Obumseli’s 2020 Austin arrest warrant if the state opens the door by describing him as peaceful, gentle, passive or nonviolent.
The warrant, attached to the defense filing, accused Obumseli of cruelty to a nonlivestock animal, a Class A misdemeanor, in Travis County, Texas. It lists an offense date of Nov. 2, 2020, but does not show how the case was resolved.
Courtney Clenney fatally stabbed boyfriend Christian Obumseli with a kitchen knife. She says she acted in self-defense. (Instagram/ Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office)
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
Clenney’s lawyers claim the records behind the warrant describe apartment staff finding Obumseli’s dead dog, Halo, confined inside a kennel in a closet after an apartment had been abandoned. Investigators allegedly found food in the kennel but no water, and feces surrounding the animal.
A veterinary pathologist concluded the dog’s most likely cause of death was dehydration from water deprivation, and investigators believed Halo had been dead for five to seven days before being discovered, the defense motion says. The filing also claims Obumseli gave “vague, confusing, and conflicting” accounts about the dog’s death.
Miami OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney is charged with second-degree murder for fatally stabbing Christian Obumseli. Her lawyers say she acted in self-defense. (Instagram)
SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS
The animal-cruelty fight is part of a broader pretrial battle over how jurors will see the couple’s volatile relationship. The evidence fight also includes the publicized elevator video prosecutors allegedly want to use to show Clenney as the aggressor.
In a separate June 29 filing, Clenney’s lawyers argued prosecutors are presenting a misleading snippet of the February 2022 elevator video. The state, according to the defense, says the video shows Clenney striking Obumseli, pulling his hair and continuing to hit him before the doors open and he can escape.
Courtney Clenney was covered in bruises after allegedly stabbed Christian Obumseli to death. (Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office)
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
But the defense says prosecutors start the video too late.
Clenney’s lawyers claim earlier footage shows her entering the elevator from her residential floor partially clothed, barefoot and without shoes, keys, wallet or phone. When she reached the lobby, her foot was bleeding, the filing says.
The defense says Obumseli later entered the elevator, saw blood on the floor and wiped it away with his foot.
When Clenney later got back into the elevator, Obumseli followed her, the defense says. Her lawyers argue she repeatedly pressed elevator buttons in an apparent effort to close the doors before he could enter.
Courtney Clenney is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Christian Obumseli with a kitchen knife April 3, 2022, in Miami Florida. (Instagram)
LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST
Once inside, the filing claims, Obumseli maneuvered around Clenney, reached for the key-fob reader and appeared to put her in a headlock while trying to activate the elevator and gain access to the apartment.
Clenney’s lawyers say she struck him during the struggle in an effort to stop him from getting upstairs. Prosecutors have disputed her account, citing the Miami-Dade medical examiner’s conclusion that the fatal wound was inconsistent with her description of what happened.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Clenney was arrested four months later at a rehabilitation facility in Hawaii and charged with second-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty. Fox News Digital has reached out to Clenney’s attorneys for comment.