XPost: alt.mountain-bike, rec.outdoors.national-parks, chi.general   
   XPost: austin.general   
   From: criminally-complicit@sfchronicle.com   
      
   DES MOINES, Iowa – A court document filed Wednesday morning   
   states that the man accused of killing a 20-year-old University   
   of Iowa student was working legally in Iowa.   
      
   Cristhian Rivera was charged Tuesday in the July 18   
   disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts.   
      
   Law enforcement officials Tuesday said he was an undocumented   
   immigrant, which immediately fueled political debate, including   
   comments from President Donald Trump and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.   
      
   U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also filed a detainer   
   to make sure Rivera, 24, was not released. He is being held on a   
   $1 million cash bond. A preliminary hearing on the murder charge   
   was scheduled for Aug. 31.   
      
   A document filed by Rivera's attorney Wednesday calls into   
   question Rivera's immigration status.   
      
   The government is incorrectly promoting the idea that Rivera is   
   not in Iowa legally, attorney Allen Richards said in a court   
   document asking for a gag order in the case.   
      
   "Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national   
   media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury   
   members," Richards wrote, referencing a statement from the   
   president citing Tibbetts' death as an example why "immigration   
   laws are such a disgrace."   
      
   Rivera has lived in Iowa for four to seven years, working at   
   Yarrabee Farms, a Brooklyn, Iowa-area farm owned by the family   
   of Craig Lang, a prominent Iowa Republican.   
      
   Craig Lang has verified that Rivera is in Iowa legally,   
   according to Richards' motion.   
      
   "Craig Lang supports Cristhian’s right to be in this   
   jurisdiction and for the government to support any other idea of   
   status publicly flies in the face of such statement," Richards   
   wrote." Cristhian deserves the court’s protection as to his   
   characterization before a jury pool."   
      
   A Poweshiek District Court Judge on Wednesday denied the gag   
   order request.   
      
   The White House tweeted about the murder during the Wednesday   
   hearing. The White House post included video testimony of family   
   members in other cases whose loved ones were killed by “repeat   
   illegal alien” criminals.   
      
   During Tuesday's news conference, law enforcement officials   
   described Rivera as an "undocumented immigrant."   
      
   Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch   
   Mortvedt on Wednesday deferred questions about the matter to   
   federal officials.   
      
   “What we based everything off of as far as saying he is an   
   illegal alien is we worked with Homeland Security Investigations   
   and they have him as an illegal alien,” Mortvedt said. “DCI   
   doesn’t work immigration stuff so anytime this stuff comes up we   
   defer to them.”   
      
   Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for the federal investigations   
   agency, could not be immediately reached Wednesday. It remains   
   unclear what – if any – specific documentation Rivera may have   
   had to live and work in Iowa.   
      
   Yarrabee Farms, Rivera’s employer, issued a statement Tuesday   
   night saying Rivera was vetted through the government's E-Verify   
   system. However, a government archive does not indicate the   
   Brooklyn, Iowa, farm as a participating member of the system.   
      
   On Wednesday, officials from the farm acknowledged they did not   
   use the E-Verify system and that Rivera gave them false   
   information.   
      
   Dane Lang is the son of Craig Lang, the former president of both   
   the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the Iowa Board of Regents   
   and a 2018 Republican candidate for state secretary of   
   agriculture. Documents immediately reviewed by the Des Moines   
   Register listed several owners of Yarrabee Farms, including Dane   
   Lang and Eric Lang, Craig's brother.   
      
   On Tuesday, authorities said they found a body in a cornfield   
   that they tentatively identified as Tibbetts', based on clothing   
   found at the scene, according to a criminal complaint.   
      
   Rivera who resides in rural Poweshiek County, Iowa, was charged   
   Tuesday with first-degree murder in the alleged abduction and   
   death of Tibbetts, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal   
   Investigation.   
      
   In the wake of Rivera's arrest, Republicans, including Trump and   
   Reynolds, railed against the country's immigration system.   
      
   Trump alluded to the case at a rally in West Virginia on   
   Tuesday: “You heard about today with the illegal alien coming   
   in, very sadly, from Mexico and you saw what happened to that   
   incredible, beautiful young woman,” he said, shaking his head.   
   “Should’ve never happened.”   
      
   Tibbetts was last seen on surveillance footage the night of July   
   18 running along Boundary and Middle Streets in her hometown   
   Brooklyn, Iowa, about 70 miles east of Des Moines. Rivera   
   allegedly followed her in a black Chevy Malibu.   
      
   Rivera parked his car and started running alongside and behind   
   Tibbetts. She pulled out a cellphone and said she would call the   
   police. Rivera told police he panicked and got mad, and then   
   "blocked" his memory, becoming aware while at the driveway of a   
   cornfield that he had placed a woman in his trunk, according to   
   a criminal complaint.   
      
   Rivera dragged the woman to an isolated area in the cornfield,   
   he told police, then covered her body with corn leaves and drove   
   away. After officials identified his vehicle in surveillance   
   footage, he complied with law enforcement and led them to the   
   body.   
      
   On Wednesday, Tibbetts' family released a statement through the   
   Iowa Department of Public Safety that said in part, "Our hearts   
   are broken. On behalf of Mollie’s entire family, we thank all of   
   those from around the world who have sent their thoughts and   
   prayers for our girl.  We know that many of you will join us as   
   we continue to carry Mollie in our hearts forever."   
      
   The family asked to be allowed to grieve in private.   
      
   https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/22/mollie-   
   tibbetts-undocumented-immigrant-suspect/1060204002/   
                                   
      
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