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() A hearing on whether some crime scene photos from the 2022 murders of four Idaho students by Bryan Kohberger should be permanently blocked from release is set to take place Thursday after the city of Moscow was sued by two victims’ families.
The families of Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin filed a request for a permanent injunction that would halt certain photos and body camera footage from public consumption.
They say certain photos, such as the bedrooms where the students were killed, are out of bounds because they are an “unwarranted invasion of their privacy.”
Mogen and Chapin, along with Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle, were murdered by Kohberger, who is now serving four life sentences.
“Under the case law in Idaho and elsewhere, I think the line is clearly drawn before releasing any death scene images. I think those should not be released,” Leander James, an attorney for the families, told “CUOMO.”
“Remember, this is a case that didn’t go to trial. It’s not as if this information of these photographs or images were put into evidence. They were not, and they’re not in the public domain. So I think those clearly are off limits.”
A judge had issued a temporary restraining order blocking the release of additional police records after hundreds of case files were made public earlier this month. Some revealed the harrowing scene that responding officers found when they got to the house.
Idaho Second District Judge Marshall halted the city from releasing any images, audio, or video showing inside Mogen’s bedroom until a full hearing on the injunction.
The judge found that “major portions” of what was released did not constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. But he said portions of videos and photographs in their redacted form, specifically unreleased bodycam video, could be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
The city said that though the restraining order only applies to Mogen’s bedroom, it wouldn’t release photos or videos showing inside any of the victims’ bedrooms until the matter was decided by the court.
‘s Brittany Donovan contributed to this story.