The judge hearing the case of accused Idaho college killer Bryan Kohberger denied a defense motion Friday to stay the proceedings for an “evidentiary hearing” on “irregularities” in the grand jury process but scheduled a hearing on a motion to dismiss the indictment for September 1 — a month before the trial is set to begin.
Kohberger was present for the day-long hearing on a pair of defense motions and several from the prosecution. The morning session was taken up with defense witnesses challenging the DNA evidence that led to Kohberger’s December 30 arrest for the murders of Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kohberger’s attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, is seeking more information from prosecutors about the use of commercial DNA databases.
As CrimeOnline has reported, a DNA sample was found on the button snap of a knife sheath found at the crime scene. The FBI used that sample to create a “family tree” from those commercial databases, such as Ancestry and 23 and Me, which led them to Kohberger’s family. Investigators obtained another DNA sample from the Kohbergers’ trash in Pennsylvania, which was found to have a high likelihood of being from the sheath sample’s father.
When police arrested Kohberger, they obtained a sample directly from him, which the Idaho state crime lab matched with the sheath sample.
The defense wants more information about the FBI’s work and presented witnesses on Friday who testified about the process of forensic genealogy work and its reliability, NewsNation reported. Prosecutor Bill Thompson said that he didn’t plan to present any of that work at trial, making it irrelevant, and said that his office doesn’t even have that documentation since it was not done by state investigators.
Judge John Judge said he would rule on the defense’s motion to compel the state to hand over the DNA information at a later date.
Much of the rest of hearing concerned the defense’s attempts to delay the start of the trial, now set to begin October 2. Judge denied that motion and set deadlines for processes leading up to the start of the trial:
- September 1: Completion of discovery
- September 8: Expert disclosures, provision of alibi if there is one, pretrial motions related to the death penalty
- September 15: Response to motions and proposed witnesses
- September 18: Proposed jury questionnaires
- September 22: Hearing on all motions
- September 25-27: Jury selection (could go longer)
- September 29: Final pretrial conference
“Keep the lines of communication open, be respectful to each other and maybe some of this can be ironed out a bit sooner,” Judge said before adjourning the hearing.
The family of Kaylee Goncalves was in the courtroom for the hearing, with one of them wearing a pro-firing squad t-shirt, according to Idaho Statesman reporter Kevin Fixler.
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[Featured image: Bryan Kohberger watches proceedings during a hearing, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow., Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (August Frank/The Lewiston Tribune via AP, Pool)]
