XPost: alt.fan.states.idaho, seattle.politics, or.politics   
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   From: criminally-complicit@sfchronicle.com   
      
   Prosecutors in the murder case against the man charged with   
   killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts are accusing   
   the defense of attempting to hide a subpoena meant as a “fishing   
   expedition” of Tibbetts’ banking records.   
      
   Prosecutors weren’t aware of the subpoena until after it had it   
   had been served on Bankers Trust in Des Moines and returned to   
   court records Jan. 21, according to a motion filed Tuesday by   
   Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown.   
      
   Defense attorneys for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, charged with   
   first-degree murder, directed the subpoena, which was issued   
   Jan. 15 by the Poweshiek County Clerk, Brown said.   
      
   The defense didn’t give notice to the state, according to the   
   motion, and didn’t enter it in the court’s filing system, “which   
   would suggest that the intent of the defense was to keep the   
   existence of the subpoena from the state and court,” Brown said.   
      
   “On its face, the subpoena appears to be a fishing expedition   
   into the confidential banking records of Mollie Tibbetts, who is   
   not a witness or party and is the person the defendant is   
   charged with killing,” Brown said.   
      
   Defense attorneys didn’t ask or receive approval by the court   
   for the subpoena, which is required, and there is no trial   
   witness from Bankers Trust listed by the prosecution, according   
   to the motion.   
      
   Brown said subpoenas for records outside the context of a   
   deposition or trial are prohibited in criminal cases. There   
   isn’t a “records-only subpoena” in a criminal case — subpoenas   
   are authorized only for witnesses to appear at a deposition or   
   trial.   
      
   According to Iowa law, a defendant can’t obtain “routine”   
   pretrial access to records of non-parties and anyone who is not   
   a witness unless ordered by the court, the motion states.   
      
   The prosecution wants a court order quashing the subpoena and an   
   order admonishing the defense from issuing subpoenas not   
   connected to a deposition or trial; as well as direction to not   
   issue subpoenas without giving notice to the prosecution and   
   without court approval, according to the motion.   
      
   Brown also wants the defense to assure the prosecution that no   
   other subpoenas like this have been issued, or if they have to   
   be disclosed.   
      
   Eighth Judicial District Judge Joel Yates has set a video   
   hearing on the motion for Thursday.   
      
   Bahena Rivera’s attorneys, Chad and Jennifer Frese, have not   
   filed response.   
      
   Bahena Rivera, 26, a Mexican national living illegally in the   
   United States, is accused of fatally stabbing 20-year-old   
   Tibbetts, who went missing July 18, 2018, while jogging in her   
   hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Her body was found Aug. 21, 2018, in   
   a cornfield where Bahena Rivera led authorities.   
      
   Authorities, during a hearing last November, said Bahena Rivera   
   admitted to driving past Tibbetts on July 18, 2018, while she   
   was jogging, then getting out of the car and chasing after her.   
   Tibbetts threatened to call the police, authorities said, which   
   angered Bahena Rivera.   
      
   Investigators obtained a surveillance video from a homeowner in   
   Brooklyn that captured images of a jogger they believe was   
   Tibbetts, which shows Bahena Rivera’s vehicle, a black Chevrolet   
   Malibu with distinctive chrome handles and mirrors, passing by   
   her, according to testimony.   
      
   Bahena Rivera told authorities he “blocked his memory” but later   
   found Tibbetts’ body in the trunk of the Malibu. He hid her body   
   in the cornfield, according to testimony.   
      
   The state medical examiner’s report determined Tibbetts died of   
   “multiple sharp force injuries.”   
      
   A murder trial is set for May 17.   
      
   Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com   
      
   https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/mollie-   
   tibbetts-subpoena-fishing-expedition-cristhian-bahena-rivera-   
   20210127   
            
      
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