POWESHIEK COUNTY, Iowa -- The man convicted of killing Mollie Tibbetts won't be getting a new trial.
Poweshiek County District Court Judge Joel Yates says Cristhian Bahena Rivera is not entitled to a new trial based on the grounds his lawyers argued in court last week.
The attorneys said at Rivera's trial, and again at a hearing last week, that another man admitted to killing the University of Iowa student in 2018 and framing Rivera for the crime.
Rivera will now be sentenced on August 30th.
Under Iowa law, a First-Degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life prison sentence.