PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I have been following this case - long-delayed because of a certain virus - largely because of issues relating to confessions expected to come up during the trial, and because of the extraordinary degree to which the case became politicized during the Trump years. As I wrote in a previous note: "The Cristhian Bahena Rivera case has become heavily politicized, as reporter Luke Nozicka reports in The Des Moines Register, in a story headed 'Mollie Tibbett's father says daughter would not want to be face of immigration debate, published on September 1, 2018, which can be read at the link below: "After his daughter’s body was found and a man authorities say is an undocumented immigrant was charged with murder, some politicians immediately used Mollie's killing as a rallying cry for tougher immigration laws.........."After he read a guest column in the Register from Donald Trump Jr., the eldest child of President Donald Trump, Rob Tibbetts said he had to respond. Trump Jr.'s column criticized Democrats' response to Mollie Tibbetts' killing and said the party seemed more concerned with "protecting their radical open-borders agenda than the lives of innocent Americans." In a response published in the Register, Rob Tibbetts said his family was grateful to the politicians who heard his appeal and stopped using his daughter's death to promote agendas. But others did not, instead choosing to "callously distort and corrupt Mollie's tragic death," he said. Quoting Trump Jr.'s column, Tibbetts said it's "heartless" and "despicable." President Trump and other politicians — including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and both of Iowa’s Republican U.S. senators — have referenced the University of Iowa student's death to promote increased border security measures." Stay tuned:
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Report.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Bahena Rivera will stand trial beginning Monday for the 2018 murder of Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student whose disappearance while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa, set off a massive search effort that drew national attention. Police have said that he admitted to encountering and chasing her on her run, and that he led them to where her body was found hidden in a cornfield. In advance of the trial, both sides filed a series of motions seeking to admit or block certain types of evidence. Judge Joel Yates addressed those at a pretrial hearing Thursday, granting some that neither party objected to but saying others will have to be addressed as the trial unfolds."
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STORY: "Judge will wait until Christhian Bahena Rivera trail begins to rule whether some evidence is admitted or blocked," by Reporter William Morris, published by The Des Moines Register on May 13, 2021.
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GIST: The judge who will oversee the trial of murder suspect Cristhian Bahena Rivera said Thursday he will reserve judgment on many of the evidentiary issues raised by both the prosecution and the defense.
Bahena Rivera will stand trial beginning Monday for the 2018 murder of Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student whose disappearance while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa, set off a massive search effort that drew national attention. Police have said that he admitted to encountering and chasing her on her run, and that he led them to where her body was found hidden in a cornfield.
In advance of the trial, both sides filed a series of motions seeking to admit or block certain types of evidence. Judge Joel Yates addressed those at a pretrial hearing Thursday, granting some that neither party objected to but saying others will have to be addressed as the trial unfolds.
From the state, prosecutors had asked Yates to bar any reference to polygraph examinations — several took place in the course of the investigation, but the results are generally considered unreliable in Iowa courts — and to bar any expert witness from commenting on the credibility of another witness' statement, in particular the statements Bahena Rivera made to police during his initial interviews.
Prosecutors also want the court to exclude photos and videos offered by the defense showing Bahena Rivera at a children's party and other gatherings with children, including his own child. The exhibits are irrelevant, prosecutors say.
Yates said he would grant the polygraph motion "conditionally," excluding results of any polygraph testing but reserving judgment on any statements made during a polygraph test. For the other two matters, he said, he doesn't have enough information yet and will reserve ruling, "understanding that, at some point, we're going to need to address these."
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, had sought to block any mention of any past criminal offenses or other bad acts of Bahena Rivera's, any comments from police witnesses expressing an opinion that Bahena Rivera's actions were "suspicious, strange or incriminating," and to block admission of any transcripts of his interviews with police, saying they have not been prepared by a court-certified interpreter.
Yates agreed evidence of other bad acts will not be admitted without a separate hearing on the issue but said he will reserve judgment on the other three requests until they arise during the trial.
Thursday's hearing also covered requests from media outlets for pretrial access to evidence, which Yates said can't happen until the exhibits are offered and admitted during the trial, and reviewed plans for jury selection. The court will call up 175 potential jurors for the case, to be narrowed down to the final list of 12 plus alternates."
