Full Answer
Cristhian Bahena Rivera has been arrested in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. The 20-year-old jogger from Brooklyn, Iowa, was found dead the morning of August 21, more than a month after she went missing in a case that drew nationwide attention.
But in our system of justice he is entitled to that presumption of innocence.” Watch Live: Mollie Tibbetts Murder Suspect Makes First Court Appearance | NBC News Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the undocumented Immigrant charged with first-degree murder in the case of missing Iowa college student, Mollie Tibbetts makes his first court appearance.
In court on Wednesday, Rivera’s attorney said the government has “weighed in at the highest levels of predisposition that this young man Cristhian is guilty. But in our system of justice he is entitled to that presumption of innocence.”
Local 5 can verify: Bahena Rivera is being defended by Chad and Jennifer Frese, a private legal team based in Marshalltown.
So Local 5 can verify: I fBahena Rivera wants a speedy trial, it's within his rights under the Constitution. However, he's also allowed to waive that right and have a trial at a later date. Below is a June 2019 court document Bahena Rivera signed, waiving his right to a speedy trial. scribd.
Bahena Rivera’s lawyers said they would appeal their client’s conviction based on their long-standing argument that his statements to cops were coerced.
Bahena Rivera will be sentenced July 15, the judge said Friday. He faces up to life in prison without parole.
He insisted that he didn’t go to the police because he was “scared” since it wouldn’t have been “seen as good [or] right. ”. Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens as his attorney Chad Frese delivers his closing arguments in his murder trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa, on May, 27, 2021.
He said he discovered the woman’s body in his trunk only after the two men ran off from his car. Bahena Rivera admitted to dumping her body in a cornfield.
A deputy in town saw Bahena Rivera driving in the same car the next day. Police then questioned the farmhand, who admitted driving by Tibbetts, then turning around and passing her again because he found her attractive.
In court, Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown referenced Rivera’s immigration status while asking for a higher bail for the suspect.
The judge did allow for media coverage, including TV cameras, of the hearing. Rivera is being held on $5 million bail on a first-degree murder charge.
At a press conference announcing the arrest of Cristhian Bahena Rivera on Tuesday, police said Rivera was an “illegal alien,” saying they confirmed his status with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. The federal government put an immigration detainer on Rivera to ensure he was not released from custody. Several Republican politicians issued statements on Tuesday and Wednesday about Rivera’s immigration status, including President Donald Trump and the White House, who said Tibbetts was killed by an “illegal immigrant” and would be alive if the country had tougher immigration laws.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, center, stands with his attorney Jennifer Frese, right, as he listens as the verdict is announced in his murder trial Friday, May 28, 2021, at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa. A jury found Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018.
Motions filed by the defense demand the state turn over any evidence that might help clear their client and grant a new trial. On Wednesday morning, Judge Joel Yates delayed Bahena's sentencing and a hearing was held Thursday to determine whether the state is obligated to turn over any additional information. A ruling is expected by week's end.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens as the verdict is announced in his murder trial Friday, May 28, 2021, at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera shown on Sept. 19, 2018, during his arraignment at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma. Bahena Rivera's trial was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was held in May of 2020. He was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, who disappeared in July 2018 while out for a run in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.
Medina Rahmanovic, manager of Iowa’s Missing Person Information Clearinghouse, displayed a photograph of Mollie Tibbetts before a news conference on Aug. 13, 2018, outside the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office in Montezuma.
Cristhian Rivera. Police said Cristhian Rivera is an undocumented immigrant and has lived in the Poweshiek County, Iowa, area for about four to seven years. He is originally from Mexico, but police did not say when he moved to the United States, according to The Associated Press.
Rahn said they approached Rivera to interview him on August 20 and he talked to them without incident. “He was very compliant,” Rahn said. “He was willing to talk to us. There was no fight or struggle of any kind.”
During closing arguments Thursday, prosecutor Scott Brown displayed to the jury a photo of a smiling Tibbetts and recounted the state’s timeline of her final moments: “She crossed paths with him, and it ended her life,” he said, pointing at the defendant. “She was attacked brutally by him. She was stabbed repeatedly by him. Can you imagine what that was like for her?”
The jury should have “serious doubts” about the state’s case, attorney Chad Frese said.
Rivera’s contradicting claims including he blacked out after getting angry and he was kidnapped by two masked men didn’t help his case as the defense attorney earlier stated, “It’s like trying to prove there’s not a Santa Claus. We don’t know who those persons could be. Remember our client was out in the middle of a very rural location. We tried to link it up as best we could with people who could have some kind of motive, but that’s very difficult to establish.”
According to earlier reports, Rivera stated ‘blacking out’ during the incident. While Mollie Tibbetts was going for a run, he got angry at her and ‘blacked out’. The next thing he remembered is discovering a bleeding Mollie Tibbetts in his vehicle’s trunk and going to bury her in a remote Iowa cornfield.