A judge in Idaho listened on Thursday as lawyers argued for and against the death penalty as a punishment for accused University of Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger.
At the end of the four-hour hearing, Ada County Judge Steven Hippler said he would “take the matters under advisement and issue written opinions forthwith,” the Idaho Statesman reported.
Kohberger is charged with killing Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves in the women’s off-campus rental on November 13, 2022, as CrimeOnline reported. He was arrested six weeks later at his parents’ Pennsylvania home and brought back to Idaho to stand trial.
Kohberger was a graduate student in criminology at Washington State University, about 10 miles from the University of Idaho’s Moscow campus, at the time of the murders.
Kohberger’s public defenders, Anne Taylor and Elisa Masoth, argued that the death penalty is arbitrary, inappropriate under modern standards, and unconsitutional. Prosecutors countered that both Idaho and the US Supreme Courts have determined that it is constitutional.
Hippler questioned both sides as they presented their arguments, and at one point wondered why he’d even make such a decision at this point in what would inevitably be a lengthy process.
“The reality is, if he is convicted, we know it’s going to be a decade-plus before that sentence would be carried out — and who knows what the methods may be then,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we wait until that time frame to see what the current methods are? Who knows what, what technology is going to be available at that time?”
Taylor and Masoth also argued that the ruling should come now, before jury selection, because “there’s a huge difference between picking a death-qualifying jury and a non-capital-qualified jury,” Court TV said.
“Death-qualified juries are highly likely to convict in the guilt-innocence phase, and we are very concerned about that,” the defense argued.
And the defense argued that it was impossible to prepare for a death penalty case unless the defendant waives his right to a speedy trial,,” prompting Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye to argue that “the real problem here that the defense is grasping with here is that they didn’t have to waive his constitutional right, but they did.”.
Hippler also declined to allow testimony from two expert witnesses the defense wanted to call. He said that testimony from University of Idaho law professor Aliza Cover would not be “relevant or helpful for the court to decide this issue.”
And he nixed testimony from Florida medical examiner Dr. Barbara Wolf, who had previously worked with OJ Simpson’s defense during his murder trial, saying that a declaration she submitted was sufficient, the Statesman said.
Kohberger’s trial is expected to begin next August, with jury selection slated to start on July 30.
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[Featured image: Bryan Kohberger/Ada County Sheriff’s Office]
