Lang
6/5/21
A judge has denied a request for a mistrial in the case of the man convicted of murdering University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts.
Judge Joel Yates made the ruling on Friday. Defense lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera had argued that a state witness had watched a livestream of the trial from outside the courtroom. Yates ruled that viewing the livestream did not prejudice the witness, and that the defense team had never asked for a separation order.
Bahena Rivera was convicted on May 28th of first-degree murder in the abduction and stabbing death of the 20-year-old Tibbetts. The verdict came after a two-week trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport.
Tibbetts vanished while out for a run near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa in 2018. Bahena Rivera later led investigators to her body, which he had left in a cornfield near where she went missing.
Yates has set a sentencing hearing for 9:30am on July 15th. By Iowa law, Bahena Rivera will receive a mandatory life sentence.