Kohberger’s attorneys ask to move murder trial away from Latah County
Anne Taylor says an impartial trial cannot be found in Latah County, according to court document filed Wednesday
MOSCOW -- Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys have requested to move the quadruple murder suspect’s trial outside of Latah County.
“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County owing to the 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 Mr. Kohberger faces,” public defender Anne Taylor wrote in her motion, which was filed Wednesday in Latah County District Court.
She said enlarging the jury pool in Latah County will be ineffective because the county does not have a large enough population to avoid bias in the community.
“Further, the size of the community and the interconnectedness of its citizenry is problematic and will prevent a fair and impartial pool of potential jurors,” Taylor wrote.
Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
During Kohberger’s latest court hearing Friday, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson argued against changing the venue. He said it is not necessary because of the widespread attention this case has received outside of Moscow. He said it will be difficult to find a county where people are unfamiliar with Kohberger.
Thompson believes they can select an appropriate panel of jurors from Latah County, and that the court owes it to the community to have the trial in Moscow.
On Friday, Thompson and Taylor also argued in front of Latah County District Judge John Judge about when to hold the trial. Taylor prefers to push it to summer of 2025 so she has enough time to prepare for the case. Thompson said his team is ready to hold the trial this summer.
Judge has not yet made a decision on the schedule for the trial.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.
