Sibley, Iowa — A hearing for one of the defendants in the case of four people charged with robbery in Osceola County has been postponed. 
Court records indicate the four are accused of the armed robbery of an occupied home on Third Avenue in Sibley.
On August 21st, 2016, Osceola County Deputies arrested four people after an alleged robbery. One of the four, 55-year-old Pedro Juan Figueroa Rios of Sioux City filed a motion that says his fourth amendment constitutional rights were violated, and he wants certain evidence suppressed.
Court documents say officers believe that Figuera Rios and another defendant were allegedly inside the dwelling while the robbery took place, and officers say they believe the two were aiding and abetting.
The motion to suppress, filed by Figuera Rios’s attorney, Jared Weber of Orange City claims that the out-of-court identification of Figuera Rios was “impermissibly suggestive.” It also claims that “A mixture of language barriers; impermissible collaboration of witnesses; the custodial line up on a street, without control subjects; the lack of alternative choices for witnesses; and other factors contributed to the substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.”
The motion says the use of a non-line up or non-photo array, violated Figuera Rios’s due process rights. It goes on to say that all evidence secured after this identification is “therefore fruit of the poisonous tree, and therefore should be suppressed.”
District Judge Carl Peterson had scheduled a hearing on the matter for Thursday, November 10th, but it was continued to November 23rd, and it’s now been continued to December 22nd.
Figuera Rios’s jury trial was to begin on December 20th. According to court records, no new date has been set.
