Idaho Judge hints Bryan Kohberger trial could start in August despite delay request

Kohberger defense ask to postpone Idaho murders trial

Bryan Kohberger, the man investigators believe killed four University of Idaho students, was in court on Wedneday, with his defense now asking for the judge to postpone the trial.

BOISE, Idaho - The judge handling the trial of Bryan Kohberger in the killings of four Idaho college students said he would consider the defense team's request to delay the proceedings, but warned attorneys on both sides to be ready to go late next month anyway.

Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler said Wednesday that he would issue a written ruling on the trial timing soon.

Kohberger, 30, a former graduate student in criminal justice at Washington State University, is charged with four counts of murder. Prosecutors say he snuck into into a rental home in nearby Moscow, Idaho, not far from the University of Idaho campus, and fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves on Nov. 13, 2022.

Kohberger stood silent at his arraignment, prompting a judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Defense attorney Anne Taylor told the judge that proceeding with an August trial date would violate Kohberger's constitutional right to a fair trial in part because his attorneys are still reviewing evidence and struggling to get potential witnesses to agree to be interviewed.

"We have to review all discovery to present a full defense. We cannot present what we are not aware of," Taylor said during the afternoon hearing. "I received discovery just last week — it is discovery that I have not reviewed yet."

The defense team also needs more time to complete investigations and prepare mitigating evidence that could be presented if the case reaches the penalty phase, she said.

Taylor emphasized that in a death penalty case, the jury must consider any factor from a defendant’s life history that might weigh against executing them. "This process is a comprehensive, time-consuming, and expensive undertaking," she wrote in the motion filed earlier this year, "but it is also what our Constitution demands when the government seeks to extinguish human life."

Prosecutor Josh Hurwitt told the judge that having adequate time to prepare a defense is different from having unlimited time. He noted that Kohberger has three attorneys, two investigators, a mitigation expert and various other experts working on his case. The discovery materials turned over to the defense this week were mainly reports from prosecutors who were interviewing the defense team's own witnesses, he said.

The killings in Moscow, Idaho, drew worldwide attention almost immediately, prompting a judge to issue a sweeping gag order that bars attorneys, investigators and others from speaking publicly about the investigation or trial. The trial was moved to the state capital of Boise to gather a larger jury pool, and the judge has sealed many case documents.

It's all being done to limit potential juror's pretrial bias. Still, public interest remains high.

A recent Dateline episode included details that weren't publicly released, and Hippler said the information appears to have come from law enforcement or someone close to the case.

That's another reason to delay the trial, Kohberger's attorneys have argued.

"The leaked materials appear carefully curated to promote a narrative of guilt," Taylor wrote in the motion. That raises serious concerns about the objectivity of investigators, especially if the source of the leak could be called as a witness.

The defense has asked the judge to appoint a special investigator to identify the leaker, and prosecutors said they will cooperate. But Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson argued in a motion filed earlier this month that pretrial publicity alone is not reason enough to delay the case.

"The question of whether Defendant can receive a fair trial is not answered by the amount of and the nature of pretrial publicity," he said. "Rather, it depends on whether a fair and impartial jury can be seated."

He said anyone influenced by the coverage, including the Dateline episode, will be screened out during jury selection.

The attention isn't likely to end soon. A book about the killings by James Patterson is set to be released in July. And a "docu-series" centered on the morning the deaths were discovered is expected to air on Amazon Prime next month, and includes interviews with some of the victims' family members and friends.

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