(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has denied a new trial for the man convicted of murdering University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts of Brooklyn in 2018. Cristhian Bahena Rivera appealed his first-degree murder conviction, arguing statements he made to police early on should have been suppressed.

He also argued statements from a jail inmate and the investigation of a man for sex trafficking in the Brooklyn area were newly discovered evidence that should require a new trial.

The Appeals Court ruling says there were repeated references to Bahena that he was free to leave as officers questioned him, but he chose to stay and continue the questioning. The ruling also says the confession and investigation do not align with much of the other evidence in this case, and neither one would have changed the guilty outcome.