Attorneys reaffirm gag order support
The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and the attorney for the suspect in the Moscow quadruple homicide case have filed documents with the Idaho Supreme Court further supporting the need for a court-imposed gag order.
That gag order, or nondissemination order, was signed by Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall and prohibits law enforcement and attorneys for anyone involved in the case from speaking publicly about the murders to the media.
The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested Dec. 30 and faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He awaits his June 26 preliminary hearing.
A coalition of media organizations that includes the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Lewiston Tribune filed a petition to vacate Latah County’s gag order on the belief it violates the First Amendment and the ability to provide the public with important information about the justice system.
The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and Kohberger’s attorneys on Friday filed a “memorandum in support of petition to intervene as real party in interest” that supports the gag order. They maintain it is necessary to protect Kohberger’s right to a fair and impartial trial in a highly publicized case.
Kohberger’s attorneys, Anne Taylor and Jay Weston Logsdon, argue the gag order is of greater importance given that Kohberger could face a death penalty sentence.
“Mr. Kohberger is on trial for his life,” their memorandum states. “This Court should not relegate him to seeking redress for prejudicial media coverage in other forums.”
The memorandum also states that before the dissemination order was in place, the office of Kohberger’s attorneys was “besieged by reporters” and that these reporters “regularly called the office on the same line necessary for its clients to reach their attorneys.”
The Goncalves family attorney, Shanon Gray, earlier this month also filed a motion arguing that he should be allowed to express the Goncalves family’s opinions and should not be included in the gag order.