A pretrial appeal filed with the Idaho Supreme Court by Bryan Kohberger’s public defenders was denied Tuesday, though reasoning behind the denial was not provided.
Kohberger’s attorneys claimed prosecutors indicted their client improperly on four counts of first-degree murder and a single count of burglary, to the grand jury.
While the grand jury was working toward an indictment, prosecutors said they must reach an indictment if the case reaches the higher legal standard of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, instead of the standard of probable cause.
The one-page ruling by the Idaho Supreme Court did not provide any reasoning for their denial of Kohberger’s attorney’s filed appeal, and the matter was closed.
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Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a motion hearing regarding a gag order in Latah County District Court. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (August Frank/Lewiston Morning Tribune, Pool)
The suspect was attempting to delay proceedings by appealing one of the judge’s individual decisions to a higher court, which was denied. Specifically, Kohberger wanted the supreme court to overturn the judge’s decision not to toss the indictment.
Kohberger, a 29-year-old Pennsylvania criminology Ph.D. student, was attending Washington State University in the neighboring town of Pullman, across the state line, where prosecutors allege he entered an off-campus home around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and killed four University of Idaho students with a large knife in Moscow, Idaho.
Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s lead defense attorney, asked the court in January to delay Kohberger’s trial until at least 2025, arguing she had not had enough time to complete discovery or interview more than a fraction of the witnesses. Latah District Judge John Judge held off on scheduling a trial date but denied Taylor’s efforts to have the indictment against her client dismissed.
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The murders of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, shook the country in November 2022.
A surviving housemate witnessed a masked man walk out the back door after overhearing sounds of a struggle minutes into the attack, but police were not called until around noon the next day.
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The four victims in the University of Idaho slayings Nov. 13, 2022. (Instagram/@kayleegoncalves)
It took police more than six weeks to capture a suspect. They arrested Kohberger at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains after a lengthy investigation that included help from the FBI and police across multiple states.
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Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
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The trial was initially expected to last six weeks, but lawyers now expect it to go on for 12 to 15.
Judge has not yet set a start date.
