Evidence Will Not Be Suppressed in Murder Case of Mollie Tibbetts

The Iowa Supreme Court has made its ruling on a motion by the defense in the upcoming murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who is charged with killing Mollie Tibbetts in the summer of 2018. According to Iowa's News Now, the court has ruled against a motion to suppress evidence in the case, paving the way for Rivera's admission to the police to be used in the trial. Rivera's defense team calls it an involuntary "alleged" confession.

Rivera's lawyers had argued that because of an error when Miranda rights were given to Rivera, his admission shouldn't be allowed in the trial. An officer with the Iowa City Police Department has testified that she accidentally left out the part about anything he said being used in court during the first of two times she administered Miranda rights to Rivera.

The body of Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who was just 20-years-old when she disappeared from her hometown of Brooklyn on July 18, 2018, was found on August 21, 2018. Rivera told authorities where they could find her body.

Rivera's trial was scheduled to begin today, before being delayed. There's no word on when it will start.