Idaho murder suspect wants trial moved after survey results say town will 맥스카지노burn the courthouse down맥스카지노 if he맥스카지노s acquitted
A hearing on Thursday is set to determine whether the trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, will be moved out of Latah County, a location his attorneys argued would be unable to provide an unbiased jury for the long-awaited trial.
The hearing is the latest update in a grinding two-year legal battle to get Kohberger맥스카지노s case before a jury, which has seen numerous pretrial hearings and complaints of slowness from the victims맥스카지노 families. The trial, which could see Kohberger face the death penalty, is currently set for June 2025.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.
Attorneys for Kohberger, 29, argued in a court filing the trial should be moved out of Latah County due to a 맥스카지노mob mentality맥스카지노 threatening the safety of their client and the courthouse. They맥스카지노re hoping to move the trial more than 300 miles away to Ada County, home of Boise, the state맥스카지노s capital and largest city.
맥스카지노The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,맥스카지노 the defense wrote.
The defense states anonymous residents of Latah County, where the killings took place, told defense experts in telephone surveys if Kohberger is not convicted:
맥스카지노 맥스카지노They맥스카지노d burn the courthouse down. Outrage would be a mild description.맥스카지노
맥스카지노 맥스카지노They would probably find and kill him.맥스카지노
맥스카지노 맥스카지노There would likely be a riot and he wouldn맥스카지노t last long outside because someone would do the good ole맥스카지노 boy justice.맥스카지노
His defense argued the prosecution recognizes 맥스카지노an enormous venue problem exists맥스카지노 and Kohberger 맥스카지노has a Constitutional right to a fair trial with an impartial jury.맥스카지노
Latah County맥스카지노s media coverage of the case is the highest in the state and the coverage 맥스카지노is often inaccurate and inflammatory,맥스카지노 the defense맥스카지노s filing stated.
His attorneys said the survey found the more media accounts a potential juror knew of, the higher the prejudgment for guilt.
The defense맥스카지노s argument is based on survey work conducted by defense expert Bryan Edelman of the consulting firm Trial Innovations in four Idaho counties, including Latah, where the Moscow killings took place and Ada County.
Edelman surveyed 400 residents in Latah County about their knowledge and prejudicial opinions of the case. Truescope, a media monitoring company, also looked at media coverage available to residents in Moscow and Boise but could not determine the amount of untraceable media reaching Idaho citizens in those cities from YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, or podcasts.
The filing noted while respondents in Latah County said there would be outrage from the community if Kohberger was not convicted, respondents in Ada County said community members would 맥스카지노go on with life as always맥스카지노 and 맥스카지노take it well.맥스카지노
The defense also argued Moscow does not have the proper facilities to accommodate an intensely publicized three-month trial and cited the changing of venue to Ada County in high-profile cases like the murder trials of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. Vallow was sentenced to life in prison and her husband, Daybell, to death for murdering Vallow맥스카지노s two children and Daybell맥스카지노s first wife.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, have argued a fair and impartial trial can be held in Moscow, and intense media coverage of the case extends beyond Latah County. They criticized the survey findings,arguing they show 맥스카지노Latah County residents who have heard about the case were, overall, statistically less likely to prejudge the Defendant.맥스카지노 Additionally, other strategies could be used to ensure a fair and impartial trial, like convening a large jury pool and thoroughly screening them, say prosecutors.
Moving the trial hundreds of miles away would be inconvenient for witnesses as well as the victims맥스카지노 families, according to prosecutors.
Four college students killed in the night
The case stems from the murders on the morning of Sunday, November 13, 2022. Police in Moscow, Idaho, were called to a home near the University of Idaho and inside found the bodies of four students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; and Xana Kernodle, 20. All four had been stabbed to death.
The slayings 맥스카지노 and the ensuing manhunt for a suspect 맥스카지노 rattled the small college town of Moscow, prompting fears about students맥스카지노 safety and subsequent attacks.
Kohberger, then a graduate student at Washington State University맥스카지노s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, was arrested at his parents맥스카지노 home in Monroe County, Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, a little over a month after the killings.
Law enforcement zeroed in on Kohberger partially through linking him to a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the immediate area of the killings. His DNA also matched DNA recovered from a tan leather knife sheath found 맥스카지노laying on the bed맥스카지노 of one of the victims, according to court documents.