Prosecutors have asked for more time to respond to Bryan Kohberger’s motion to dismiss his grand jury indictment for the murders of four University of Idaho college students last fall, while Kohberger’s public defender has asked that the judge completely bar cameras from the courtroom.
Kohberger’s attorney, Anne Taylor, filed the motion to dismiss late this week, claiming, among other things, “prosecutorial misconduct by withholding exculpatory evidence,” as CrimeOnline reported. The motion also seeks the indictment’s dismissal “on the grounds of a biased jury, inadmissable evidence, [and] lack of sufficient evidence” and says there are 24 issues detailed in a memorandum of support that was filed under seal.
082423 Motion to Extend Time to Respond to Defendant Motion to Dismiss Indictment by kc wildmoon on Scribd
Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson asked the judge to reschedule the hearing on the motion — currently set for Friday — for September 22, also pushing back dates for the defense response. Taylor signed the prosecutor’s motion as having no objection to it.
Thompson wrote that the memorandum of support is 109 pages, 49 of them the arguments and the rest “various exhibits which include affidavits and other materials.”
“Among other things, the Defendant’s motion asserts detailed factual and evidentiary issues that will require not only review and submission of the entire grand jury transcript) so that the court is able to assess the Defendant’s claims in context) as well as what appears to be complex scientific representations and disputes.”
Prosecutors said they can neither “properly research and respond” to the motion or “be prepared for a substantive hearing” by the current dates on the court’s schedule.
In her motion to remove cameras from the courtroom, Taylor accused the press of disobeying the court’s previous order not to focus their cameras exclusively on Kohberger and says the photographs are used far beyond reporting on the hearings themselves but to support other “articles with blatantly sensationalistic and prejudicial headlines and content.”
082423 Motion to Remove Cameras From Courtroom by kc wildmoon on Scribd
The photos are also used, she said, as “fodder for observers and purported ‘analysts’ on social media, who are not bound by notions of journalistic integrity and who have potentially an even greater reach than traditional media outlets.”
The continued use of such images, she said, “gradually poison the potential jury pool prior to trial even occurring, winnowing the number of jurors able to render a just, unbiased verdict.”
Taylor also complained that some images, taken from a distance, violate another court order not to show “any papers, documents, or notes which may be located on or around counsel tables or used by counsel.”
Prosecutors certified that they received a copy of the motion but have not yet responded to it.
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[Featured image: A photo from the August 18 hearing that defense attorney Anne Taylor said was used by observers on social media “who are not bound by notions of journalistic integrity.” (August Frank/The Lewiston Tribune via AP, Pool)]
