The judge overseeing the murder trial of Bryan Kohberger has set a new schedule for the proceedings after the case was transferred to Ada County.
District Judge Steven Hippler vacated the schedule set up by the Latah County district judge, John Judge, and set jury selection to begin on July 30, 2025, with the trial itself to begin on August 11.
Hippler expects the trial to run for three months, concluding on November 7, 2025.
Kohberger is charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students on November 13, 2022, as CrimeOnline has reported. He was arrested at his parents home in Pennsylvania that December, having gone there for the holidays from Washington State University — just a few miles from the Idaho school — where he was a graduate student in criminal justice.
Kohberger’s attorneys successfully argued for a change of venue last month, moving the trial from Latah County to Ada County. The trial had been set to begin next June before the change of venue.
100924 Redacted Order Governing Proceedings Notice Setting by kc wildmoon on Scribd
Hippler set dates for a final pre-trial conference May 15 and 16, and said other conferences may be set as needed.
The prosecution must respond to the defense motions challenging the death penalty in the case by October 10, 2024, with the defense replies due two weeks later. A hearing on the motions is set for November 7.
The judge also set dates for a variety of motions, for discovery, and for providing lists of expert witnesses expected to testify. Proposed jury questionnaires are to be filed under seal by March 24 with objections due a week later. A closed hearing is set for April 16.
Proposed jury instructions are due April 14, and proposed exhibits lists are due a week later.
In a separate order, Hippler asked that Nez Perce County District Judge Mark Monson continue as resource judge for the case. Monson was appointed to that role in January 2023 and is responsible for making decisions about requests for additional defense services. That request must be approved by the Idaho Supreme Court.
Kohberger’s defense team met with Hippler on Tuesday in a closed hearing about the status of defense representation. The results of that hearing, and documents filed with it, are sealed. That hearing followed an order filed on October 2 saying that the defendant’s current counsel — Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth, and Jay Logsdon — would “remain as counsel of record for Defendant unless they are relieved by a subsequent order of this Court.” The order also set the date of the closed hearing.
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[Featured image: Bryan Kohberger/Ada County Sheriff’s Office]
