OCT 17, 2019
Suspect in Mollie Tibbetts’ Murder Asks Judge to Approve Sleep Deprivation Expert Witness
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Attorneys for
Cristhian Rivera filed a motion Wednesday to request the court’s approval to appoint expert witnesses. They are also asking for the state to pay for hiring those experts as well as services already provided by a translator.
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The
motion filed Wednesday asks for approval of Dr. Kimberly Fenn of Michigan State University, an expert in the area of sleep deprivation and its effects on the actions and statements of the sleep-deprived, as an expert witness.
The motion states, “Defendant has raised the issue of voluntariness of his statement to law enforcement as well as whether any waiver of a purported advisement of
Miranda rights was knowing and voluntary.”
Rivera’s attorneys are also asking that the interpreter who was court-appointed to assist their client be given expert witness status, in order to allow her to be compensated. The motion claims “neither the State Public Defendant nor State Court Administration want to compensate Ms. Gardner for the services she has rendered to date. Citing various bureaucratic reasons, Ms. Gardner is being characterized as simply providing interpreter services and thus cannot be compensated.”
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The motion asks for a $2,500 retainer to be approved for Dr. Fenn, $3,000 be approved for DNA expert Dr. Michael Spence and for the interpreter to be given expert witness status and her previous claims for compensation be approved.
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Three days of hearings are planned for next week, starting Tuesday, on motions to suppress evidence in the case. Rivera’s attorneys want his alleged confession thrown out as well as evidence found during a search of his car excluded because they claim their client wasn’t read his
Miranda rights. Investigators say Tibbetts’ blood was found during that search.
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