Defense for Moscow murder suspect Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murder

Ahead of a hearing next month, lawyers for Idaho college student murder suspect Bryan Kohberger have called his prospects for a fair trial in Moscow both an “extreme case” and “completely corrupt” in their request to change the location of his upcoming trial to Boise.

In court documents released Tuesday afternoon, Kohberger’s public defenders argued that their client’s constitutional right to an impartial jury would be violated without moving the trial from Latah County, where the crime occurred. In their more than 300-page legal brief, they cited as further justification the “extensive publicity that is ongoing and inflammatory,” including the spread of false information in the news and on social media that would also be inadmissible at trial.

“The publicity is extremely widespread in the small community of Latah County,” wrote Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s chief public defender. “Remedies such as increasing the jury pool will not solve the problem.”

Ada County, the state’s largest county with more than 500,000 residents and home to the capital Boise, has “more than 10 times as many potential jurors as Latah County” and gives Kohberger the best chance at an impartial jury, the filing said.

“Latah County is, by all accounts, a nice, quaint, tight-knit community that sticks together,” Taylor wrote. “While a small, tight-knit community is what you hope for in a small town, constitutional rights must still be carefully protected. Mr. Kohberger has the right to a presumption of innocence; he has the guarantee of the protection of a fair jury and a fair trial.”

Kohberger, 29, is charged in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students that drew national and global attention. The victims were seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20.

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated burglary in the case. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Kohberger if a jury convicts him.

Public Prosecution Service and victim’s family oppose postponement of trial

Judge John Judge, of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, will ultimately determine whether the requested change of venue elsewhere in Idaho will be approved. He set a Monday deadline for Kohberger’s defense to file its arguments ahead of a scheduled Aug. 29 hearing on the issue.

During that hearing, the defense said it planned to call four witnesses, including a trial consultant hired by the defense to interview potential jurors to justify the change of venue, a survey researcher, a social psychologist who studies prejudice and a media analyst.

Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson, who is leading the case against Kohberger, has said he opposes moving the trial out of Moscow. The defense’s claims about the publicity of the high-profile case do not support moving it out of state, he said earlier.

“I don’t think a change of venue is going to solve any of those problems,” Thompson told the court during a hearing earlier this year. “The state’s position on venue is that the case should be tried here. It’s a Latah County case. We believe we can select an appropriate panel of jurors from Latah County.”

His formal response to the defense’s final filing is due by August 12. Kohberger’s defense team can file a rebuttal a week later.

If the judge were to approve the change of venue for Kohberger’s trial — to Ada County or elsewhere — he would also have the option of keeping the assignment and staying with the case, under Idaho’s criminal code rules. If he chooses to recuse himself, however, the Idaho Supreme Court would choose the judge to replace him.

Last month, the judge set a start date for Kohberger’s first-degree murder trial: June 2025. The trial would take place in Latah County, where the crime occurred, if the judge denies the defense’s request to change venue over concerns about local juror bias against their client.

Through their attorney, Kaylee Goncalves’ family said in a statement to the Idaho Statesman last month that they agreed to set a trial date after a 13-month wait since Kohberger’s May 2023 indictment. But they also noted that they would like to keep Kohberger’s trial in Moscow, where he has been jailed since January 2023.

“We hope the trial will remain in Latah County so that the schedule is not disrupted, and we pray that there are no further delays,” the statement said.

In their filing, Kohberger’s attorneys also argued that logistics also warranted moving the high-profile case to the Ada County courthouse in Boise, where separate murder trials for Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, were being held. Compared to Latah County, the size of the Ada County courtroom provides ample space and an overflow area for the large crowd expected to watch the trial, they wrote.

In addition, the Ada County Courthouse provides adequate security for all parties, including jurors, Kohberger’s defense wrote. And access to the state’s largest airport will be important for the likely extensive lists of witnesses traveling in and out of the city for what is scheduled to be a 14-week trial with possible sentencing, running from June 2 to Aug. 29, 2025.

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