Brian Koberger, the suspect in the Idaho student murder case, asks a judge to move his trial away from the college town where he is accused of massacring a group of sleeping students. filed a complaint.
“Due to extensive and inflammatory pretrial publicity, public media allegations about Mr. Koberger that are not admissible at trial, and the small size and vile nature of the community, Lutter County is unable to provide a fair and impartial jury. I can’t find it,” Koberger’s lead attorney, Ann Taylor, said in a Tuesday court filing released Wednesday night.
Mr. Koberger, 29, holds a Ph.D. in Criminology from Pennsylvania. The student attended Washington State University in Pullman, a neighboring town across the state line, but prosecutors say he broke into an off-campus residence around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and attended the University of Idaho. He claims to have killed four students with a large knife. Moscow, Idaho.
Idaho murder case: Judge to consider attorney Brian Koberger’s request for summer 2025 trial start date
Brian Koberger enters the courtroom for a hearing on Friday, August 18, 2023, at the Rutter County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. (August Frank/Poole, via Reuters)
Moscow is the capital of Latar County, and is home to about half of the country’s approximately 40,000 people, excluding school students.
“Increasing the number of jurors will do nothing to overcome widespread prejudice because Latah County does not have large enough population centers to avoid community prejudice,” Taylor said. wrote. “Furthermore, the size of the community and the interconnectedness of its residents are problematic and would preclude a fair and impartial pool of potential jurors.”
In this case, a change of venue seems entirely appropriate.
Brian Koberger trial: Idaho prosecutors request date and schedule
Much of the litigation was conducted behind closed doors, with many filings made under confidential and restrictive gag orders.
Brian Koberger’s attorneys Elissa Massos (right), Ann Taylor (center), and Jay Logsdon leave the Rutter County Courthouse on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Derek Schock, FOX News Digital)
new jersey defense attorney david gelmanA follower of the case calls it the latest move in Koberger’s “kitchen sink defense,” which includes numerous procedural attempts to throw out or delay the case. ing.
Last week, Taylor asked the court to postpone Koberger’s trial until at least 2025, saying there was not enough time to complete discovery and interview more than a few witnesses. Rutter District Judge John held off on setting a trial date, but denied Taylor’s efforts to drop the charges against his client.
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“I would have done the same thing if I were his attorney, and I would have done it a while ago,” Gelman told FOX News Digital. “40,000 people is not a large number of people. The problem is that it’s in a state that doesn’t have a large population to begin with, but this incident was widely reported nationally, so even if they were… would make that case” in a densely populated area. ”
From left to right University of Idaho students: Ethan Chapin, 20 years old; Zana Karnodol, 20 years old. Madison Morgen, 21 years old. All four were stabbed to death on November 13, 2022, in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho. (Jazmin Kernodle via AP/Instagram/@kayleegoncalves)
Venue changes are rare but can occur in high-profile cases, such as the double murder trials of “cult mom” Lori Vallow in Idaho and Scott Peterson in California.
“This was 100 percent expected,” said Edwina Elcox, a prominent Idaho public defender who previously represented Vallow.
“It is worth noting that the prosecution has already indicated its opposition to this motion through comments in court,” she told FOX News Digital. “In this case, a change of venue seems entirely appropriate.”
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson told the judge at a hearing last week that the case had already received worldwide attention and media coverage, and no change of venue was necessary.
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On Sunday, December 4, 2022, a home in Moscow, Idaho, where a quadruple murder took place. The homeowner then donated it to the University of Idaho, but the building was demolished a year later. (Hunter Richards, Fox News Digital)
In November 2022, the murders of Madison Morgen and Kaylee Gonsalves, both 21 years old, and Zana Karnodol and Ethan Chapin, both 20, sparked a national scandal.
The surviving housemate heard the sounds of a struggle minutes after the attack began and saw a masked man come out the back door, but police were not called until around noon the next day.
Brian Koberger is accused of killing Ethan Chapin, Zana Kernodle, Kaylee Gonsalves, and Madison Morgen. (Lutter County Sheriff’s Office)
It took police more than six weeks to arrest the suspect. After a lengthy investigation that included assistance from the FBI and law enforcement agencies in multiple states, they arrested Koberger at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.
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A judge entered a not guilty plea on Koberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The trial was originally expected to last six weeks, but lawyers now expect it to last 12 to 15 weeks. The judge has not yet set a start date.
