Bryan Kohberger’s attorney’s attempt to move the Idaho murder trial to a different county could potentially backfire.
Kohberger’s lawyer, Anne Taylor, filed a motion earlier this year to relocate the quadruple murder trial, citing concerns about finding an impartial jury in Latah County. The legal move drew criticism from Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson and Judge John Judge, prompting a gag order in the case.
“This was a total shock to me,” Judge told Taylor, according to Newsweek. “Because this is a big deal, and I take it very, very seriously. And I was surprised, OK, that this was happening behind our backs—my back.”
Kohberger faces four charges of murder for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The victims were discovered stabbed dead in an off-campus rental in Moscow on November 13, 2022.
Thompson argued that since the crime occurred in Latah County, moving the trial elsewhere wouldn’t alter potential jurors’ awareness of the case.
Taylor, however, argued that “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations made about Mr. Kohberger to the public by media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges.”
Then, in January, survey expert Brian Edelman, hired by Taylor, created survey questions for Latah County residents that could violate gag orders in the case, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The prosecution said Kohberger’s defense team posed nine “reckless” and “outrageous” questions to 400 potential jurors in the county. One Latah County resident recorded one of the phone conversations and then notified the district attorney’s office to register a complaint.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek that issues may arise since some questions contained information that may never be used at trial.
“The problem is the defense team asked potential jurors about the evidence against Kohberger. Some of that information may never come into evidence,” she said. “So now, potential jurors are hearing evidence outside the courtroom and evidence that may be inadmissible.”
The questions touched on topics such as the alleged discovery of a knife sheath at the crime scene, purported multiple visits by Kohberger to the crime scene, claims of fear among Moscow residents following the murders, and allegations of Kohberger stalking his victims.
Thompson argued that the questions breached gag orders that prohibit people from making extrajudicial statements about evidence to be presented at trial.
“That is reckless conduct and it’s outrageous,” Thompson said. “We are trying to salvage a mess.”
Taylor argued that Edelman was unaware of the gag order when he created the survey. She clarified that the questions merely necessitate a yes or no response and were derived directly from media reports.
She added that surveys are customary in high-profile cases.
Police arrested Kohberger, who was a Ph.D. criminal justice student at Washington State University when the murders occurred, at his family’s Pennsylvania home in December. Kohberger is believed to have turned off his phone during the murders. Police claim he visited the area 12 times before the slayings and left a knife sheath at the scene.
He pleaded not guilty to the murders and remains jailed without bail. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Bryan Kohberger listens to arguments during a hearing in Moscow, Idaho, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. A judge has declined to dismiss a grand jury indictment against Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students. He is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the deaths at a rental house near the campus in Moscow, Idaho, last November. (Kai Eiselein/New York Post via AP, Pool)]
