Bryan Kohberger’s defense team has until end of the day Wednesday to file a notice that it intends to present an alibi for their client, but the stipulations Idaho law gives for that declaration leave open many questions.
Kohberger is accused of stabbing to death four University of Idaho students on the night of November 13, 2022, as CrimeOnline has reported. He was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home seven weeks later after a lengthy investigation and manhunt.
Last summer, the defense said that Kohberger’s “alibi” was that he had been driving around alone in the middle of the night at the time of the murders. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson called that alibi “vague,” and Judge John Judge, who is overseeing the case against Kohberger, called it a “so-called alibi” and “not really an alibi.”
Idaho law requires that an actual alibi include “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.” If the defense plans to say Kohberger was alone at the time of the murders, it’s difficult to see how that would be accepted as an alibi.
Judge is still mulling whether to allow the defense to continue surveying potential voters to determine how much the jury pool may have been tainted by excessive information. Public defender Anne Taylor commissioned the survey to collect information to bolster its motion for a change of venue. A hearing on that motion was initially scheduled for mid-May but has been postponed until June 27, according to KHQ.
Earlier this month, Thompson and Taylor sparred over the survey, conducted in Latah County by Bryan Edelman, and the specific questions it asked. Thompson argued that survey asked about information known to be false, while Edelman said that the purpose of the survey was to find out what potential jurors knew about the case and that it didn’t matter if the information was true or false.
A question Thompson singled out asked if jurors had heard that Kohberger “stalked” the murder victims, an accusation that spread throughout the media after a family member said that Kohberger had followed at least one of the victims on social media. Thompson said the accusation was false and should have been excluded from the survey.
Thompson said such questions violated a gag order in place barring attorneys on both sides from discussing details about the case, including evidence that may or may not be presented at trial. Edelman argued that the stalking allegation may be false, but it spread widely via media reports.
Thompson said he would approve of the survey if it excluded such questions about information not included in the probable cause statement filed with Kohberger’s arrest, but Edelman said he would not continue the survey in an additional two counties as planned if he couldn’t do it his way.
Judge kept in place his order for attorneys on both sides to steer clear of potential jurors and asked them to sit down and talk about the survey before he made a decision. It’s not clear when that decision might come, but the postponement of the change of venue motion may indicate it will be delayed.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to the murdres of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves. No trial date has been set.
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[Featured image: Bryan Kohberger at a Sept. 13, 2023 hearing. Second District Judge John C. Judge, seen on a video display, presides over the hearing. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)]
