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Bryan Kohberger’s defense team is crying foul after a judge ordered both sides in the Idaho student murders case to stay away from potential jurors ahead of a change-of-venue hearing that could move the upcoming trial out of Latah County, where the slayings happened.
“The late Friday afternoon filing was a strategic action by the State,” defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote in a motion to rescind Judge John Judge’s ban.
She argued that a survey the defense was conducting on potential jurors met the legal standards warranted in a potential death penalty case.
During jury selection, the defense would have a chance to ask potential jurors if anyone asked them to discuss the case and whether that would impact their ability to be fair and impartial, he said.
Judge John Judge speaks during Bryan Kohberger’s hearing Aug. 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune/Pool)
Changes of venue can be rare but can happen in high-profile cases, such as the double murder trials of Idaho’s “cult mom” Lori Vallow and California’s Scott Peterson.
“I highly doubt the defense did anything to run afoul of the court’s order, and I think the defense is absolutely doing its due diligence,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney who previously represented Vallow. “The defense made a sound legal argument with respect to what they must establish for a change of venue.”
Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson walks through the courtroom before a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. (August Frank/Tribune, Pool)
However, she said, the answer to concerns about the validity of the survey’s questions is contained in the questions themselves. They have not been made public, but Edelman’s declaration has.
“I think the defense’s expert backs up the reasoning behind the defense strategy,” Elcox said.
Kohberger, 29, was a Ph.D. student studying criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, at the time of the murders of four undergrads at the nearby University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, Nov. 13, 2022.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse June 27, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (August Frank-Pool/Getty Images)
The home invasion attack killed Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. Two other housemates survived, including the only publicly known eyewitness.
Moscow is the seat of Latah County and home to about half of its population, not including students at the university. The defense survey aimed to contact about 400 county residents over the age of 18.
Bryan Kohberger, right, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, sits with Anne Taylor, left, one of his attorneys, during a hearing in Latah County District Court Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
Thompson has countered that the case is already receiving global attention and media coverage and that a change of venue would not be necessary.
