Chad and Jennifer Frese, Bahena Rivera's attorneys Bahena Rivera is represented by the husband-wife team of Chad and Jennifer Frese of Marshaltown. Both Freses are former prosecutors who now do criminal defense work, among other types of law.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera has been arrested in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. The 20-year-old jogger from Brooklyn, Iowa, was found dead the morning of August 21, more than a month after she went missing in a case that drew nationwide attention.
Rivera Worked for a Family Farm Tied to a Prominent Iowa Republican & the Company Says He Was Vetted Through the Federal Governmentâs âE-Verifyâ System Cristhian Rivera. Cristhian Bahena Rivera worked at Yarrabee Farms for four years and was an employee in good standing, the farm told The Associated Press.
But in our system of justice he is entitled to that presumption of innocence.â Watch Live: Mollie Tibbetts Murder Suspect Makes First Court Appearance | NBC News Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the undocumented Immigrant charged with first-degree murder in the case of missing Iowa college student, Mollie Tibbetts makes his first court appearance.
Local 5 can verify: Bahena Rivera is being defended by Chad and Jennifer Frese, a private legal team based in Marshalltown.
So Local 5 can verify: I fBahena Rivera wants a speedy trial, it's within his rights under the Constitution. However, he's also allowed to waive that right and have a trial at a later date. Below is a June 2019 court document Bahena Rivera signed, waiving his right to a speedy trial. scribd.
In July, KCCI reported that the state of Iowa had paid more than $12,000 to hire an interpreter for Bahena Rivera. He is accused of murdering Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, while she was on a run in Brooklyn, Iowa. Advertisement.
According to court documents, Rivera has no job. The only monthly payment he recorded was a $270 car payment per month. Through this forum, the courts found that he was indigent, or poor. In September 2018, the judge granted Bahena Rivera a stipend of $5,000 to hire investigators. In March 2019, he was granted a stipend of $3,200 for an expert.
In documents for appointing an interpreter, "a judge may charge some or all of the fees paid by the [State Court Administrator's Directive] or LPD for an indigent defendant's oral language interpreter to the defendant.".
Cristhian Bahena Rivera worked at Yarrabee Farms for four years and was an employee in good standing, the farm told The Associated Press. The company told The AP it was shocked to learn Rivera had been charged in Tibbettsâ death.
Cristhian Rivera. Police said Cristhian Rivera is an undocumented immigrant and has lived in the Poweshiek County, Iowa, area for about four to seven years. He is originally from Mexico, but police did not say when he moved to the United States, according to The Associated Press.
Police obtained data from her electronic devices, including her cellphone and a FitBit fitness tracker, which they say assisted in the investigation. According to court documents, Rivera told police he âblockedâ his âmemoryâ from the moments after Tibbetts threatened to call police.
His lawyers began calling witnesses Tuesday, questioning the confession and DNA evidence, and painting Bahena Rivera as a non-violent family man who crossed the border illegally from Mexico as a teenager in search of a better life.
Investigators said Bahena Rivera confessed during an 11-hour interrogation to approaching Tibbetts, fighting with her after she threatened to call the police, putting her body in his trunk and hiding it in a cornfield. They say he led them to the body, which was badly decomposed and hidden underneath cornstalks.
to earn better wages. She said Bahena Rivera âis a yes manâ who did anything he was asked on the dairy farm where he worked, and cooperated when law enforcement showed up there and asked to question him.
The first defense witness called Tuesday was forensic consultant Michael Spence, who agreed that Tibbettsâ DNA was found on blood stains in the trunk, but said there was also unaccounted for DNA in the trunk, including at least one unknown male and female.
Bahena Rivera was also sending money back to his parents in Mexico and paying to build them a house, she said. The defense showed jurors a photograph of a smiling Bahena Rivera and Gamboa with their young daughter at a family party in 2017. âHe was happy that his daughter was happy,â Gamboa said. âIt was a good day.â.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a farm worker, mostly stood idle while wearing headphones at the court session, where interpreters helped her translate the juryâs verdict. The verdict is about three years from the fateful day that Mollie Tibbettsâ body was found. According to previous reports, Rivera stated that he âfaintedâ during the incident.
Iowa student Mollie TibbettsâinĂśldĂźrĂźl first-degree murder trial, Friday, May 28, which was condemned unanimously by the jury members Cristhian ends with Bahana Rivera. convicted 26-year-old illegal Mexican immigrants Rivera, will be held on 15 July.
Defense lawyersjury to other potential suspects, including Tibbettsâ boyfriend Dalton Jack. Bahena on Wednesday Rivera took the podium in his own defense and admitted that he had abandoned Tibbettsâ body on the field, but refused to kill him.
Chad and Jennifer Frese, Bahena Rivera's attorneys. Bahena Rivera is represented by the husband-wife team of Chad and Jennifer Frese of Marshaltown. Both Freses are former prosecutors who now do criminal defense work, among other types of law.
After his arrest, managers at the farm said he had provided them a false name and lived in a trailer on the farm. Bahena Rivera's arrest, and undocumented status, drew national outrage, including from then-President Donald Trump, who made multiple references to the case in calling for more restrictive immigration policies.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera. Prosecutors say Cristhian Bahena Rivera, now 26, is an immigrant from El Guayabillo, a town of about 400 people, in Guerrero, Mexico. Riveraâs Facebook page said he attended âPreparatoria 35,â a school in Guerrero. He, however, has many relatives in the Poweshiek County area.
His trial begins May 17 in Davenport. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Tibbetts' disappearance, the subsequent search for her, and the eventual discovery of her body and arrest of Bahena Rivera drew national attention, and the parties have spent years preparing their cases amid multiple delays and shifts in venue. ...