Judge approves new lawyer for Bryan Kohberger in Idaho murder trial
In a recent development, Judge Steven Hippler has granted Bryan Kohberger’s request for a new attorney in his bid for a retrial, despite Kohberger’s previous guilty plea for the 2022 murder of four University of Idaho students. Legal expert Mehek Cooke highlights the substantial difficulty in revoking a guilty plea, while the victims’ families continue to grapple with the emotional toll of the ongoing legal process.
Judge Hippler has issued an order charting the course for Kohberger’s plea withdrawal efforts. The judge noted that while hearings are tentatively slated for June 2027, they remain flexible, with several procedural deadlines and expectations set for both parties in the months ahead.
“Should there be an evidentiary hearing, the proceedings are scheduled to commence on June 17, 2027, at 9:00 a.m.,” Judge Hippler stated.
Prosecutors have urged the court not to grant a hearing, labeling Kohberger’s allegations as lacking substance and devoid of supportable evidence.
The 31-year-old Kohberger had confessed to four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary for the deadly 2022 assaults on University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
In a motion filed Tuesday, Deputy Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl asked for a transcript of Kohberger’s July 2, 2025, change of plea hearing, in which Kohberger’s own words could be used to rebut the new claims in his petition.
Kohberger, in a handwritten petition filed in July, is claiming he had ineffective counsel, that his guilty plea was “not knowingly or voluntarily entered because it was induced by unkept promises” and that it was “not voluntarily entered because of threats asserted by petitioner’s (Kohberger’s) legal counsel.”
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
But in 2025, Kohberger checked “no” when asked whether an attorney or anyone else had forced or coerced him into accepting the plea agreement or made other promises that influenced his decision.
He affirmed that there was nothing going on in his life that would impair his ability to enter his guilty plea voluntarily, and there was no reason he couldn’t make a “reasoned and informed decision” when he did so.
Read the state’s motion to dismiss Kohberger’s petition for post conviction relief:
Scholl asked Hippler to dismiss Kohberger’s petition outright.
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“The petition fails to raise a genuine issue of material fact, and respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” he wrote.
He added that Kohberger could have raised his claims of constitutional violations in an appeal — while the plea agreement itself says he waived his appellate rights. He said Kohberger’s petition included no facts to support his claim that he had ineffective counsel and wrote that Kohberger’s “freestanding claim of actual innocence” is unrecognized under the law.
Lastly, he wrote, Kohberger’s defense team wasn’t obligated to explain “the conditions of prison life or what the incarceration would practically entail as collateral consequences of a guilty plea.”
Read Hippler’s scheduling order:
Hippler set the following dates over the next few months for deadlines in the case:
He gave Kohberger until Nov. 13 — four years to the day after the murders — to file an amended petition. The state has 14 days to file a new answer once one is filed, or 14 days from the deadline if Kohberger doesn’t file one.
Kohberger must disclose witnesses, expert reports and opinions by Feb. 1, 2027.
The state’s rebuttal expert disclosures are due on March 1, 2027.
Investigators set up outside the home where four University of Idaho students were slain in November last year in Moscow, Idaho, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Derek Shook for News Media)
Discovery requests have to be completed by May 7, 2027.
Then a status conference and evidentiary hearing have been tentatively scheduled for June 3, 2027 and June 17, 2027, respectively.
The sides have 14 days from the order, made public Wednesday, to ask for any alterations to the schedule. Potentially, Hippler could grant an earlier hearing to resolve scheduling disagreements.