Lang
8/23/19
Trial will go on as scheduled for the man accused of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts.
25-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera appeared in Poweshiek County Court on Friday to officially waive his right to a trial within one year. Judge Joel Yates agreed, and trial is still set to begin on November 12th.
Investigators say Bahena Rivera stabbed Tibbetts as she was jogging in Brooklyn in July of 2018. They say he later led them to her body in a cornfield.
Earlier in August, a judge delayed another hearing until October 22. It will discuss if prosecutors can use Rivera’s initial confession in court since officers didn’t properly read him his Miranda Rights.
If convicted on a 1st Degree Murder charge, Bahena Rivera faces life in prison.