AP
10/22/19
A hearing to determine whether key evidence can be used against a man charged in the killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts has been delayed.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera is charged with murder in the July 2018 killing.
Prosecutors acknowledged last week that officers didn’t read Rivera his rights during an interrogation before Tibbetts’ body was recovered.
A court official says a hearing scheduled for Tuesday to decide if the information from that interrogation could be used to rebut testimony has been postponed because a defense lawyer’s parent has died. It has been rescheduled for November 13th.
The 25-year-old Rivera is scheduled for trial in February.
Prosecutors allege Rivera stalked Tibbetts while she was running near her hometown of Brooklyn, stabbed her to death and dumped her body in a cornfield.
If convicted on the 1st Degree Murder charge, Rivera faces life in prison.