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A judge has rejected a motion to retry Cristhian Bahena Rivera
in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, clearing the path for him to be
sentenced in the Brooklyn woman's 2018 murder.

Bahena, a farmhand, was convicted of first-degree murder after a
two-week trial in May despite claiming on the stand that two
masked men had coerced him into assisting them with Tibbetts'
murder. In July, his attorneys asked that he be granted a new
trial, saying new evidence pointed to new possible suspects.

At a lengthy hearing July 27, they argued that Tibbetts' death
might have been connected to another woman's alleged sex
trafficking in a neighboring county, as well as the May 2021
disappearance of 11-year-old Xavior Harrelson of Montezuma.


? More:Here's what we know about the latest twists in the case
of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, convicted of killing Mollie Tibbetts

In his order Monday, Judge Joel Yates denied that motion.

The two new witnesses, who each claimed a man named Gavin Jones
had confessed to them he had been the killer, came forward
during the trial, and prosecutors informed the defense and
offered to delay the trial to investigate.

Although the two sides disagree on exactly what information was
conveyed — a fact that "obfuscates the Court’s analysis," as
Yates put it — the judge wrote that the defense clearly knew
enough to make the informed decision not to pause the trial to
seek new witnesses that, as Yates points out, would have
significantly contradicted the defendant's testimony.

? More:Cristhian Bahena Rivera was to be sentenced last month
for Mollie Tibbetts' murder. Instead, his attorneys offer new
spin on case.

Bahena's motion "greatly downplays the discrepancies between his
testimony at trial and the account that (new witness Arne Maki)
reports he was told by Jones," Yates wrote. "For example, the
specific details about how Mollie Tibbetts was murdered are
vastly different."

"Had both versions of events been presented at trial, the jury
would have had to make a credibility determination not between
the State’s witnesses and those of the defense, which is a
typical scenario, but between the Defendant and his own
witness," he added later.

Bahena's attorneys had also argued prosecutors failed to turn
over favorable evidence in the form of a 2019 investigation into
a man accused of sex trafficking in nearby Mahaska County.
Prosecutors are obligated to provide any evidence favoring the
defense under a U.S. Supreme Court case known as Brady v.
Maryland.

? More:In bid for new trial, Bahena Rivera attorneys say two new
witnesses have come forward to support his testimony

Yates agreed that prosecutors had not provided evidence about
the Mahaska County investigation to the defense, and that such
information might have bolstered Bahena's case. But to be a
Brady violation, the evidence in question must be "material" to
the question of guilt, and Yates said there's no reason to
believe it would have changed the case's outcome.

"Defendant’s trial strategy included casting doubt onto other
individuals, such as Dalton Jack and Ron Pexa," Yates wrote. "It
is doubtful that adding another possible suspect, one with no
apparent ties besides being in the same county as Mollie, would
have a reasonable probability of change the result of trial."

Bahena was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 15, but the
proceeding was postponed to let the court consider his motion
for a new trial. With that settled, the court has set a new
sentencing date of Aug. 30, where Bahena faces a mandatory
sentence of life without parole.

Bahena's attorneys, Chad and Jennifer Frese, could not
immediately be reached for comment.

? More, for subscribers:The untold story of Mollie Tibbetts’
final moments — and her family’s 3-year struggle to reclaim her
memory

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21031955-orot- 8?embed=true&responsive=false&sidebar=false

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21031955/orot-8.pdf

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and- courts/2021/08/02/judge-denies-new-trial-cristhian-bahena-rivera- mollie-tibbetts-murder/5462498001/

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