NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Travis Reinking, the man convicted in the 2018 Waffle House mass shooting that killed four people, is asking for a new trial, claiming his original defense team failed him and new evidence shows he was legally insane at the time of the attack.

Five years after the deadly shooting, Reinking's current defense attorneys filed a 193-page amended motion, arguing his previous lawyers never brought in their own mental health experts. Instead, they say the team relied on court evaluations done before Reinking was even indicted.

According to the new filing, recent psychiatric evaluations suggest Reinking was suffering from intense delusions and paranoia. One psychiatrist noted that Reinking believed Taylor Swift and the CIA were hacking his mind and claimed God had commanded him to kill three people that night. Swift is referenced more than a dozen times in the report.

The defense said this amounts to legal insanity and diminished capacity so severe that Reinking couldn't form intent, an essential component of a first-degree murder conviction.

The motion also accuses prosecutors of misconduct during the trial, including misleading the jury about the legal standard for insanity and using emotionally charged language that inflamed racial and personal biases.

Prosecutors have long argued that Reinking was not insane and that his actions were deliberate. They point to his behavior after the shooting. Reinking hid in the woods, packed a go-bag, and evaded law enforcement for more than 30 hours after the deadly rampage.

A hearing on the new motion is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. at the Birch Building in downtown Nashville.

Reinking is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/convicted-waffle-house-mass-shooter-requests-new-trial-citing-mental-illness-and-legal-missteps/