MONTEZUMA, Iowa — NOTE: The above video is from the November 2019 hearing on a motion to suppress Cristhian Bahena Rivera's conversations with law enforcement.
The man accused of killing 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts may not go to trial until 2021.
According to a joint motion filed by both the prosecution and defense, a "glut" of cases, along with COVID-19 restrictions, are primary factors for pushing the trial back for 26-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera.
Bahena Rivera is charged with Murder in the First Degree in Tibbetts’ death, with investigators saying he led them to her body in August 2018.
"Both parties also share a legitimate apprehension as to how a trial can effectively be conducted with interpreters if parties, witnesses or the Judge are required to wear masks that obscure their face below the eyes while speaking," Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown writes. "Furthermore, the defendant has waived both his 90 and 1-year speedy trial rights which puts him as a secondary priority for a trial date when jury trials resume in September."
Both sides have asked the trial be continued to January 26, 2021.
The trial has been moved from Poweshiek County to Woodbury County.
Complete coverage of the Cristhian Bahena Rivera murder trial