Kohberger defense asks judge to delay Idaho murder trial after case details leak
BOISE – Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students, asked the presiding judge to postpone the long-awaited murder trial this summer in Boise, citing disclosure of previously unreleased case details that may have violated the court’s gag order earlier this month in an episode of NBC’s “Dateline.”
Led by attorney Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s public defense team filed Tuesday for the delay, just two months before the scheduled start of jury selection to kick off the trial. The defense’s request, in a 40-page brief that posted to a state courts website Wednesday afternoon, came less than a week after Judge Steven Hippler invited a formal request to consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the source of the leaked information.
The legal filing, signed by Taylor, referenced the need to protect Kohberger’s constitutional rights to a fair trial, including to provide enough time for the defense to review all outstanding investigation materials to effectively prepare to defend their client.
“Any conviction and sentence resulting from a capital trial beginning in August 2025 will be unconstitutionally imposed and, therefore, vulnerable to reversal on direct or collateral review,” the filing read. “As detailed in this motion, moving forward with a capital trial in August will infringe upon Mr. Kohberger’s constitutional rights, as counsel requires more time to review discovery, complete investigations, and prepare for trial.”
The defense has yet to file any requests for the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Kohberger, 30, is suspected of fatally stabbing the four UI students in November 2022 at an off-campus home in Moscow. At the time, he was a Ph.D. student in the criminal justice and criminology department at Washington State University in nearby Pullman. Kohberger was arrested in late December 2022 after a nearly seven-week homicide investigation.
The victims were Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived in the home on King Road in Moscow with two female roommates who went physically unharmed in the attack. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night.
Kohberger, who is originally from eastern Pennsylvania, faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. A judge entered not guilty pleas to all charges on his behalf, and his defense has maintained his innocence over more than two years leading up to his high-profile trial, which was moved from Moscow to Boise late last year.
Idaho is one of 27 U.S. states with capital punishment. If a jury finds Kohberger guilty, prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Also Wednesday, attorneys met with Hippler for a closed-door court hearing. Little is known about the remote-only hearing that restricted public access, other than its title: “Discussion regarding the role of victims.”
Besides the prosecution and defense teams, Shanon Gray, attorney for the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, was listed on a court record as among those invited to attend. Goncalves’ parents, Steve and Kristi, have voiced their frustrations about the length of time before the trial of their daughter’s accused killer.
“One step forward, two steps back. Are we ever going to get there???” the Goncalveses posted to a family Facebook page the day after a public court hearing held last week where Hippler scheduled another pretrial hearing for next month.
At that hearing, Hippler also said he considered the two surviving roommates “technically victims of the burglary.” As such, he will reserve two seats in the courtroom for them each day of the trial, should they choose to attend, and also said he would only broadcast the audio of their expected testimony, rather than video, too, on the court’s livestream of the trial.
“I don’t know whether they would have any desire to be here,” Hippler said. “I suspect not, given the way they’ve been treated in the media. But, if they do, they have seats available.”
Unless Hippler decides otherwise, Kohberger’s trial is set to begin with jury selection in late July, with trial scheduled by Aug. 11 at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise.
“While prompt administration of justice is important – to both the state and Mr. Kohberger – the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial outweighs modest delay,” Taylor wrote. “And, because the majority of cases ending in the death penalty are later overturned for error, the public interest lies in ensuring a fair trial in the first instance.
“A continuance will ensure that Mr. Kohberger’s fundamental constitutional rights are honored, and that any verdict rendered rests on a fair and complete presentation of the facts, not on forced haste.”
Kohberger’s next scheduled court appearance is June 18.