IA - Mollie Tibbetts,20, Poweshiek County - MEDIA, MAPS & TIMELINES - NO DISCUSSION

[PommyMommy]

MAR 4, 2019
Man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts wants trial moved out of Poweshiek County
In a separate motion, also filed Friday, Frese asked the court to toss out Rivera’s police interview, which includes a confession, claiming police violated his rights by not informing him that he could decline to cooperate with them and also telling him he didn’t need an attorney.

In the motion, portions of the transcript from the interview are included but not the portion with Rivera’s confession. Most of the transcript showed authorities attempting to get Rivera to tell them why he killed Tibbetts, telling him they already knew it was him but wanted to know why. Officers told him they found Tibbetts’ hair in his vehicle.

Rivera repeatedly said he couldn’t help them and he didn’t know anything. He claimed he didn’t know how Tibbetts’ hair could be in his vehicle, maybe it’s from his wife and daughter, he suggested.

Some or most of the interview was conducted in Spanish with one of the officers translating for Rivera and other investigators, according to the motion.

Frese said the confession wasn’t voluntary for several reasons, including the language barrier, Rivera’s lack of education, officers saying he didn’t need a lawyer, Rivera agreeing to do anything requested by officers — which indicated he didn’t think he had a choice — and the length of the interview after Rivera had worked an almost 12-hour shift at his job.

The prosecution hasn’t filed a response.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 4, 2019
Motion filed to drop confession from suspect in Mollie Tibbetts' murder
[...]

A 29-page motion filed Friday by Rivera's attorneys said his Fifth Amendment constitutional rights were violated.

The motion claims Rivera was not read his rights before questioning, including his right to have an attorney present and his right to decline to cooperate with officers.

"If it's true that he was in custody and being interrogated and was not given the Miranda warning (or) made statements without waiving his rights, then it's a valid motion," said Drake University law professor David McCord.

Though the motion would be valid, McCord said the city of Brooklyn could still try the case with other evidence.

"The motion doesn't say that anything found in the vehicle should be suppressed," he said.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office said it plans to resist the motion.

[...]

His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 3 at the Poweshiek County Courthouse.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 7, 2019
Dates set for Mollie Tibbetts murder suspect to argue suppressing interview, moving trial
Hearing dates were set Thursday for the man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts to argue for moving his trial and suppressing the alleged confession he made to investigators.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera's lawyers requested his trial be moved out of Poweshiek County and into a county with more minority representation. They also filed a motion to suppress, claiming he was not read his rights before an interview with law enforcement.

Judge Joel Yates set a half-day hearing March 27 for Bahena Rivera to argue for transferring the trial. A daylong hearing was set June 25 for his motion to suppress.

Court to hear arguments on pending motions in Cristhian Rivera case
Rivera's legal team has asked for a change of venue citing pretrial publicity and the desire for a jurisdiction with a higher minority population.

The defense team for Rivera has also filed a motion to suppress information obtained by law enforcement, with court records accusing investigators of offering Rivera "promissory leniency" and failing to advise read Rivera his Miranda rights or advise him of his right to an attorney.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 15, 2019
Prosecutors: Mollie Tibbetts murder suspect never mentioned language barrier in interview
The farmhand accused of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts never indicated he did not understand questions during his lengthy interview with investigators, prosecutors say.

In a court filing Wednesday, the Iowa Attorney General's Office disputed that there was a language barrier between Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, and the Spanish-speaking officers who interviewed him for 12 hours before he was charged with murder.

The statement came in a response to Bahena Rivera's request for public funds to be used for an expert in interrogation methods. Prosecutors said they understand the need for the expert but disagreed with his assertion he required one because of the interview's "length, context, language barriers and other factors."

Scott Brown, an assistant attorney general, said prosecutors were not aware of any "significant" language barrier because officers talking with Bahena Rivera at Yarrabee Farms in Brooklyn, where he worked, used an interpreter.

Officers who then conducted a "large majority" of Bahena Rivera's interview at the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office in Montezuma were fluent in Spanish, Brown wrote. The lead officer's first language is Spanish, he said.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 20, 2019
Judge rules Iowa will pay for expert witness for man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts
A judge ruled Wednesday that a $3,200 stipend will be paid by the state for an expert witness to assist the man accused of fatally stabbing Mollie Tibbetts last summer.

Lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, who is charged with first-degree murder, said the stipend was needed to hire a forensic expert with Criminal Case Consultants in Buffalo, N.Y. The expert can provide insight on interrogation techniques and analytical investigative methods given the “length, context, language barriers and other factors involved in the police interrogation” of Rivera, Chase Frese, Rivera's lawyer, said in the motion.

The stipend is required for the expert to begin looking into these issues but it doesn’t cover costs of testimony at trial or travel expenses, Frese, in motion, said. The defense will make separate requests for those funds if necessary.

[...]

Brown, in the motion, said authorities had a person to interpret for them when they first talked to Rivera at Yarrabee Farm, where Rivera worked as a farm hand, on Aug. 20, and the police officers who conducted the majority of the interview on Aug. 20 and 21, were fluent in Spanish. Spanish is the first language of the primary officer conducting those interviews, he added.

“The defendant never indicated a lack of understanding or any question due to a language barrier at either the farm or the sheriff’s office,” Brown said in the motion.

[...]

The defense previously asked the court to move the trial out of Poweshiek County because of extensive pretrial publicity and that hearing is set for next Wednesday in Poweshiek County District Court.

The defense also filed a motion to toss out Rivera’s police interview, which includes a confession, claiming police violated his rights. That hearing will be June 25.

The prosecution hasn’t filed a resistance to either motion at this time.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 25, 2019
Prosecutors join defense attorneys in calling for trial to be held in different county for man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts
The trial for the man accused of killing 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts may be moved to a different county than where the crime allegedly took place.

After Cristhian Bahena Rivera's attorney requested a new location for the high-profile murder trial, the Poweshiek County Attorney and Iowa Attorney General offices responded in a motion filed Monday by saying "a fair and impartial jury cannot reasonably be selected in Poweshiek County."

[.....]

A new site for the trial has not been proposed.

MAR 26, 2019
Trial for Cristhian Bahena Rivera accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts will be moved out of Poweshiek County
A judge cancelled a hearing Tuesday on moving a trial for the man accused of fatally stabbing Mollie Tibbetts last July because the defense and prosecution agree it should be moved out of Poweshiek County.

[...]

The prosecution also said, in a motion, that a fair and impartial jury cannot be selected in the county based on the nature of the crime, and many prospective jurors likely would have the facts of the case and have “substantial knowledge of the investigation.

“The death of Mollie Tibbetts has touched many of the residents of Poweshiek County and her death has significantly and emotionally affected many of the residents of the county and prospective jurors,” Poweshiek County Attorney Bart Klaver, in the motion, said.

[...]

Eighth Judicial District Joel Yates, in a motion, said the defense and prosecution are in the process of working on a formal consent regarding moving the trial.

Yates will likely talk with lawyers about prospective counties and may set a new trial date.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 27, 2019
Bahena Rivera trial moved to Woodbury County
[...]
Online court filings indicate that 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera will go to trial on Sept. 3 in Woodbury County. That is the original date of the trial when it was scheduled to take place in Poweshiek County.
[...]

Trial for Mollie Tibbetts suspected killer moved to Woodbury County
[...]
An order from the court says that Woodbury County will be the new host of the trial of Cristhian Rivera which is due to start September 3rd.

Rivera's attorneys initially sought the change of venue earlier this year and prosecutors agreed that finding an impartial jury in Poweshiek County is not possible.
[...]

 

[Seattle1]

March 27, 2019

Mollie Tibbetts murder trial moved to Sioux City in Woodbury County

UPDATE: According to online court records, Cristhian Rivera’s trial will be moved to Sioux City in Woodbury County. The trial remains set for September 3, 2019.

 

[Seattle1]

March 27, 2019

Mollie Tibbetts murder trial moved to Woodbury County

MONTEZUMA — A judge ruled Wednesday to move the trial for a man accused of fatally stabbing 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts to Woodbury County, and it will remain set for Sept. 3.

Lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, and prosecutors agreed the trial should be moved out of Poweshiek County because of extensive pretrial publicity.

The defense, in a motion, argued their client couldn’t have a fair and impartial jury because hundreds of people from the area volunteered in the monthlong search for the University of Iowa student after she vanished while jogging July 18 in her hometown of Brooklyn.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 3, 2019
Mollie Tibbetts family honors slain woman's birthday with fundraiser for opera house
[...]

To honor the University of Iowa student who was killed last year after going missing July 18, $21 donations to the Brooklyn Opera House are being encouraged by her family.

[...]

“On May 8, 2019, we will celebrating Mollie's 21st birthday," Tibbetts' mother, Laura Calderwood, said in a news release. "It is only fitting that on this day, we recognize the fundraising efforts of the Brooklyn Opera House. ... It is also a building where Mollie's grandmother, grandfather, mother, aunt, and uncle spent countless hours volunteering time and energy.”

One anonymous person has pledged to match the first $500,000 in donations, according to a news release from Mollie's Movement, a community service organization helping with the event. The total amount of money raised will be announced at a public event Wednesday at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center.

[...]

For more information on the Brooklyn Opera House or to donate in Mollie’s honor, visit www.brooklynoperahouse.com.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 8, 2019
Mollie Tibbetts' mother breaks her silence | Daily Mail Online
[...]

In an interview on Wednesday with Good Morning America, Laura Calderwood said Mollie's disappearance and murder last July in Brooklyn, Iowa, was 'indescribable' and 'took a higher power to get me through it'.

[...]

When federal agents said Rivera was a Mexican national present in the country illegally, the case sparked a firestorm of debate over immigration - but Calderwood hopes to shift news coverage of the case away from immigration.

'I don't want to feel anger, so I just don't spend a lot of time thinking about it at all,' Calderwood said of her daughter's abduction and stabbing death.

She and her friends have started 'Mollie's Movement', a group dedicated to urging others to perform acts of kindness.

On Wednesday, which would have been Mollie's birthday, the group is urging people to perform 21 acts of kindness.

They are also encouraging others to donate $21 toward rebuilding the Brooklyn Opera House in their small city of 1,500.

'Mollie was very dedicated to theater arts,' said Calderwood, adding that she hopes 'it will start people thinking about paying kindness forward.'

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 8, 2019
Acts of kindness, donations pour in on Mollie Tibbetts' birthday
Iowans donated money and spread acts of kindness Wednesday in honor of Mollie Tibbetts's birthday. The University of Iowa student would have been 21.

[...]

Calderwood said her family hopes individuals will donate $21 to the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Fund, which benefits the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital’s pediatric and adolescent psychiatric unit.

Calderwood said mental health awareness and treatment, especially in young people, will be Mollie's lasting legacy.

[...]

In Brooklyn, community members will gather Wednesday for a fundraiser in Tibbetts' memory for the restoration of the Brooklyn Opera House.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 9, 2019
Mollie Tibbett's mother continues to raise awareness

 

[Seattle1]

Family and friends remember Mollie Tibbetts with laughter, ice cream and acts of kindness

BROOKLYN, Ia. — Mollie Tibbetts always looked forward to the ice cream cake.

On her fourth birthday, decked out in a newly gifted chef’s hat and coat, Tibbetts peeked up at the frozen cake on the counter with excitement, her mother, Laura Calderwood, recalled Wednesday afternoon. She smiled at the memory.

There will be ice cream cake again this year as Tibbetts' family gathers privately to remember the young woman with an “infectious laugh and beautiful smile.” She was found stabbed to death last August following her disappearance while on a run and a monthlong nationwide search.

This small celebration will come after Wednesday, a day filled with speeches, embraces and intentional acts of kindness across Brooklyn as the community honored Tibbetts, who would have turned 21 on Wednesday.

A few years ago, Tibbetts’ birthday fell on the day of the district track meet.

Running 12 laps around the track was exactly how she wanted to spend her birthday, said Tibbetts' track coach, Shane Wilson, recalling Tibbetts sarcastically thanking him for such a thoughtful gift.
[...]
She began planning her daughter's 21st birthday months before Tibbetts went missing. Calderwood had in mind Tibbetts' favorite food — grilled cheese on sourdough cut into slices and dipped in tomato soup. She’d even planned a birthday playlist of Tibbetts' favorite hits.

But instead of celebrating with her daughter on Wednesday, she shared Tibbetts' passion for helping others with the community.

“We are forever indebted, and there are no words of gratitude for what this community has given our family,” Calderwood said after a public birthday celebration for her daughter, tied to a fundraiser for the local opera house.

As of Wednesday night, more than 450 contributors had helped raise more than $17,000 for the Brooklyn Opera House in honor of Tibbetts' family, who spent years volunteering for the historic site. The fundraiser will continue through the end of the month. People are encouraged to donate $21 for Tibbetts' birthday.
[...]
Models of two sculptures of Tibbetts were also unveiled at Wednesday's celebration: one of the young woman walking a dog and another of her surrounded by children.

The final 8 foot tall art pieces will be on display in Grinnell. The smaller replicas will stand outside the opera house in Brooklyn.

“Mollie was extraordinary in so many ways, but her gift was her genuine interest in the people she met," Tibbetts' father, Rob Tibbetts, wrote in a letter read during the unveiling. "She saw in us all our best qualities and characteristics — our most heartfelt desires and aspirations, and all the things we love about the world.

"Mollie took those things and made them her own, in her own distinct way. In doing so, her life was an evolving tapestry of the very best of us. Mollie was an irresistible reflection of everything we love in ourselves and why we will all love her so dearly for the rest of our lives.”

 

[Seattle1]

Mollie Tibbetts' mother breaks her silence | Daily Mail Online

• Mollie Tibbetts' mom Laura Calderwood gave her first TV interview Wednesday
• Wednesday would have been Mollie's 21st birthday if she weren't murdered
• Iowa college student was jogging last July when she was snatched and stabbed
• Was missing for weeks before illegal immigrant Cristhian Rivera led cops to body
• Now Calderwood hopes to shift coverage of case away from immigration
• Has invited a friend of her daughter's accused killer to live with her family
• Urges performing acts of kindness in honor of 'Mollie's Movement'

[...]
'I don't want to feel anger, so I just don't spend a lot of time thinking about it at all,' Calderwood said of her daughter's abduction and stabbing death.

She and her friends have started 'Mollie's Movement', a group dedicated to urging others to perform acts of kindness.

On Wednesday, which would have been Mollie's birthday, the group is urging people to perform 21 acts of kindness.

They are also encouraging others to donate $21 toward rebuilding the Brooklyn Opera House in their small city of 1,500.

'Mollie was very dedicated to theater arts,' said Calderwood, adding that she hopes 'it will start people thinking about paying kindness forward.'

 

[Seattle1]

Mom honors slain college student on what would have been her 21st birthday

 

[Seattle1]

One anonymous person has pledged to match the first $500,000 in donations, according to a news release from Mollie's Movement, a community service organization helping with the event. The total amount of money raised will be announced at a public event Wednesday at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center.

“Brooklyn Community Development, the non-profit restoring the Brooklyn Opera House is honored that Mollie's Movement and the Tibbetts Family thought of us for Mollie's birthday celebration," the release states. "She lived an art-filled life with a dedication to her community, and we hope to fulfill everything she would have loved about this project.”
Mollie Tibbetts family honors slain woman's birthday with fundraiser for opera house

 

[Seattle1]

Here's how people in her hometown are honoring Mollie Tibbetts on what would have been her 21st birthday

The owner of Live Now Designs in Brooklyn, which helped print flyers and T-shirts during the search, landed on the answer: Tibbetts would spread kindness.

VanLandschoot and others decided on a couple of ways to remember Tibbetts, all of which will come together Wednesday at a birthday celebration in conjunction with a fundraiser for the Brooklyn Opera House, a building where many of Tibbetts' family members volunteered their time.

VanLandschoot also had 30,000 “kindness cards” printed with a quote from Tibbetts printed on the back.

"Everybody has their own talent," the cards say. "Whether it's a sport you are good at, or if you are good at dance, or if you're a great writer, even if you're just a good person. That's one of the best things you can be good at."

She said she's encouraging people to perform 21 random acts of kindness in Tibbetts' memory.

The cards are circulating not just around Brookyln, but across the state and country.

VanLandschoot sent a shipment to SPARK Kindness clubs in Pennsylvania and others to Illinois, California and New York.

"Really, it's about getting out and doing something good for somebody," she said.

 

[Seattle1]

Mollie Tibbetts' legacy: Iowa town celebrates a young life lost a year ago

Tibbetts was killed in July 2018, but on Wednesday – what would have been her 21st birthday – her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa,celebrated her life and legacy.

A local nonprofit group is asking for donations to reopen the shuttered doors of the town’s 108-year-old opera house to honor Tibbetts. So far, more than $1.1 million has been raised to restore the dilapidated landmark, where theater and music once thrived in this Norman Rockwell-esque Midwestern town of 1,500 or so residents where movie icon John Wayne lived as a boy.

“This symbolizes a new life for our town,” said Brian Manatt, of the Brooklyn Community Development, the nonprofit group spearheading the restoration.

“We don’t want Brooklyn, Iowa, to be remembered for tragedy,” said Manatt, who knew Tibbetts. “Mollie was so involved in the arts and culture and we want all to remember her in a positive way.”

The new opera house – set to be unveiled in December – will also feature a memorial of statues capturing Tibbetts and her importance to so many in this central Iowa community. The two whimsical, bronze-coated metal renderings are abstract depictions of Tibbetts, one showing her running with the family dog, Buster, and another of the aspiring child psychologist surrounded by children.

“She loved helping others, and it was infectious to children,” said Chad Nath, Tibbetts’ former boss at a summer day camp.

“They were so drawn to her goofy spirit and the way she treated them – like they were equals,” he said. “She was a light you couldn’t steer away from.”

Tibbetts disappeared on July 18 during an evening jog through the streets of Brooklyn, a community where few residents thought to lock their doors. In the days that followed, her photo turned up most everywhere – on T-shirts and buttons; on stickers on trucks traveling the I-80 corridor; on flyers, in shop windows, and at stands at the Iowa State Fair.

Tibbetts was far more than a face on a poster, as the country would learn.

The stories that trickled out told the story of an extraordinary young woman, dynamic, selfless, kind.

And relatable.
[...]
Mollie’s Movement is soliciting donations of $21 for the rebuilding of the opera house in honor of Tibbetts' 21st birthday. It is also promoting its “Paying Kindness Forward” program, encouraging people across the nation to showcase 21 random acts of kindness in Tibbetts’ memory.

“If you don’t have money, that’s OK,” said VanLandschoot. “It costs nothing to show kindness in the way that Mollie did.”

As members of the community gather on Tibbetts’ birthday to celebrate her life, her family is trying to focus on the same spirit of celebration.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” said her older brother, Jake. “It’s obviously a harder thing to think about who she was rather than what happened because everywhere you look, it’s right there. It’s great that people are grasping onto the ‘who’ and not the ‘what.’”

Tibbetts’ younger brother, Scott, echoed the sentiment. “I’m not here to mourn anything or be upset,” he said. “I’m here to celebrate and be the person I usually am and if not, a better person.”

 

[Seattle1]

Family, friends honor Mollie Tibbetts' life on 21st birthday

On what would have been Mollie Tibbetts' 21st birthday, members of the Brooklyn, Iowa community came together to celebrate, and to honor the girl that changed their lives forever.

“My daughter was a very gregarious, silly, yet heartfelt person," said Laura Calderwood, Mollie's mother. "And she always saw the good in others.”

Calderwood said her daughter was destined to make a difference in the world.

“We all were hurt by what happened to Mollie. So this is a really nice way for us to come together and see something really positive really great almost blossom from such a tragic deal," said Morgan Collum, Mollie’s Cousin.

Since the devastating news of her death, Mollie's legacy has lived on through Mollie's Movement, a message for all to commit random acts of kindness just as she would.

“Just by loving others, that’s exactly what she would want is just to love others and be kind," said Collum.

In the spirit of kindness, Mollie’s family wanted others to honor her 21st birthday by donating $21 dollars to help rebuild the Brooklyn Opera house. It is an institution that has meant so much to Mollie's family.

“They were just so excited because they felt that the project going on at the opera house really fit well with Mollie and her legacy," said Brian Manatt, President of Brooklyn Community Development.

Once the opera house is completed, Manatt said there will be two statues outside the building depicting Mollie Tibbetts.

Calderwood said it is still tough knowing her daughter is not alive to celebrate.

“I wish I could listen to the playlist I had made up in my head that I was going to give to her," she said.

“I remember a year ago thinking, ‘oh my gosh one more year and you’re going to be 21 and we can go get margaritas.' It’s going to be amazing and I had this whole idea in my head of how the day would look," said Collum.

Yet, they feel as though Mollie's spirit is now embedded within the community.

“Time heels. Time heels the deepest wounds," said Collum.

Mollie’s loved ones and family are encouraging people to do 21 acts of kindness in honor of Mollie. People can also still donate to help rebuild the Brooklyn Opera House and to the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Fund through the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.