Bryan Kohberger Seeks New Judge After ‘Worst of the Worst’ Remark

Bryan Kohberger’s newly appointed attorney is once again challenging Idaho prosecutors as he seeks to remove the judge who described his client as a “faceless coward” from the post-conviction phase of the case.

Attorney Greg Rauch says Latah County prosecutors have merely “regurgitated” legal standards instead of responding to the central issues raised in his motion seeking Judge Steven Hippler’s disqualification.

Hippler said Kohberger, now 31, had “slithered” into the victims’ home before carrying out a crime that placed him among “the worst of the worst,” remarks the judge made after Kohberger acknowledged responsibility last year.

Rauch argues that the key question is whether Hippler’s comments about the defense’s preparation and Kohberger’s ability to tell the truth could influence disputes the judge may be called upon to decide, especially when considered alongside his other statements.

While discussing the absence of an allocution or personal explanation from Kohberger, Hippler also questioned whether the defendant was capable of offering a truthful account.

“Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?” Hippler said during sentencing. He questioned whether Kohberger could “give up something of himself” to help the people whose lives he had destroyed, suggesting instead that any explanation might consist of self-serving and exaggerated falsehoods that would only deepen the public’s desire for more answers.

Rauch acknowledged that judges may reject defense motions, condemn horrific crimes and still oversee later post-conviction proceedings.

“The question is not whether someone might criticize the Court,” Rauch wrote. Instead, he said, the issue is whether a reasonable and informed observer could question the judge’s impartiality when viewing the entire record.

Rauch’s concerns extend beyond Hippler’s sentencing remarks. He has also challenged the judge’s handling of a scheduling dispute that arose just days before Kohberger stunned the public by pleading guilty to avoid a possible death sentence.

“This motion does not rest upon one adverse ruling, one harsh statement, or the mere fact that the judge who presided over Bryan Kohberger’s criminal case has been assigned to his post-conviction proceeding,” Rauch wrote in his original 22-page filing on Aug. 27. He said the request was based on the “extraordinary convergence” of those circumstances.

Hippler had previously denied a request from Kohberger’s former attorney, Anne Taylor, for additional time. In a June 26 order, he characterized her discovery concerns as “ultimately empty” and indicated that the arguments appeared aimed at delaying the trial.

Six days later, during the hearing on Kohberger’s change of plea, Hippler asked Taylor whether she had completed all the discovery she believed was necessary.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Taylor responded.

In a response filed earlier this month, prosecutors argued that Kohberger had not demonstrated that Hippler is biased against him.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, who announced his retirement earlier this week, and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl maintained that Hippler’s comments after Kohberger admitted killing four University of Idaho students were neither extraordinary nor improper.

“In our case, the sentencing remarks are not enough to show bias, and the required showing of perceived bias cannot be tied to this Court’s capacity to fairly adjudicate any [post-conviction relief] claims alleged in this case but rather puts this Court in the best position to adjudicate them as the legislature and the Idaho Supreme Court’s rules intend,” they wrote.

Rauch also argued that Hippler could voluntarily recuse himself from the case to avoid any appearance of partiality.

In the new 12-page filing, Rauch also argued that prosecutors have attributed concessions to his client that were never made, mischaracterized his initial motion and failed to address some of the arguments he did make in it.

“The State’s Response does not resolve this motion by repeating the ordinary rule, supplying concessions Petitioner never made, or calling the disputed statements routine,” Rauch wrote.

Kohberger is attempting to undo his guilty plea in the University of Idaho student murders that killed Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in November 2022.

The former criminology Ph.D. student initially filed a handwritten petition for post-conviction relief in July.

Rauch was later appointed to represent him and has until Jan. 13, 2027 to file an amended petition that is expected to be much more in-depth than Kohberger’s.

“A request for an impartial adjudicator is certainly not a request for a sympathetic one,” he wrote. “Reassignment would change the judge, not the evidence or the governing law.”

A hearing on the matter was supposed to take place Thursday, before Hippler abruptly canceled it and said it would be rescheduled later.