The Idaho public defender assigned to Bryan Kohberger’s murder trial has argued before a state legislative committee against an expansion of the type of crimes eligible for the death penalty in the state.
Anne Taylor, chief of the Kootenai County Public Defenders Office, told state senators that the bill would would vastly increase the number of capital punishment cases in the state — and the amount of money the state would need to prosecute them, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Taylor is the only public defender in northern Idaho qualified to lead death penalty cases. Twelve other public defenders are qualified state-wide. Taylor’s co-counsel in the Kohberger case, Jay Logdson, is the only death penalty qualified co-counsel in the northern region.
“These are not cases that are quick to be resolved,” Taylor told the senate panel last week. “If it remains a death penalty case, it can take years to get to trial and get to a sentencing phase in that case. … Idaho is not staffed or prepared for this.”
Kohberger, 29, is charged with stabbing to death four University of Idaho students in November 2022, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said last year that he plans to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
Idaho requires a defendant who cannot afford an attorney to be provided with a death-penalty qualified public defender within 14 days of being charged with a death-penalty eligible crime. Currently, the only crime that can be punished with death is first degree murder.
“When somebody’s charged with a crime where the death penalty could be imposed — whether it will be asked for or not by the prosecutor — the accused is entitled to representation from a capital-qualified team,” Taylor said. “That happens long before a prosecutor makes a determination of whether death will actually be sought or not, but that team has to be in place that early.”
Kohberger is charged with first degree murder. Taylor’s arguments have no connection with his case whatsoever.
The bill before the state senate has already passed the state house and would make certain sex crime against children under the age of 12 punishable by death. The US Supreme Court has already ruled such a law unconstitutional, but that did not deter legislators from pushing for in anyway.
Kohberger is due in court again on May 14 for a hearing on Taylor’s motion for a change in venue. Meanwhile, Taylor has until April 17 to provide a notice that they intend to present an alibi, including “the specific place or places at which the defendant claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom he intends to rely to establish such alibi.” The defense has said that Kohberger was driving around on the night of the murders with his phone turned off.
Judge John Judge said that he would set a trial date after deciding on the change of venue motion.
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[Featured image: FILE – Bryan Kohberger, second from left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is escorted out of the courtroom as two of his attorneys, Anne Taylor, second from right, and Jay Logsdon, right, confer following a hearing in Latah County District Court, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool,File)]
