According to his leading defense attorney, Brian Coberger has autism. He claims a diagnosis means that if he is convicted of the murder of a group of students at the University of Idaho who were killed in a 4am home invasion attack in November 2022, he should not face the possibility of death penalty.
“Brian C. Coberger will move this court by his record counsel and by this, to attack this court as a ruling option in his case. Taylor wrote in a newly unsealed, 28-page court filing.
She argued that repeated actions, such as shaky repetition and failure to make eye contact with Coberger, were perceived by the ju-describers as “weird, out of control, and rude to such strict procedures,” or interpreted as guilt or shame. She said her clients had been reviewed by Dr. Rachel Orr.
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Brian Coberger arrives at Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania before an extradition hearing. He is charged with murder of four students at the University of Idaho. (Fox News Digital Image Direct)
“Kohberger's ASD manifests itself in many of these highly prejudic, yet completely involuntary, mannerisms,” writes Taylor. “Dr. Orr observed that he subtly rocks the upper torso, particularly while engaged in cognitive tasks or listening to someone else. Both are almost certain during his trial.”
Kohberger (30) was studying with a PhD. Criminology at Washington State University at the time of the crime.
He is accused of a meticulously planned attack that killed four students at the University of Idaho, just 10 miles away. They also had 21-year-old best friends Madison Morgen and Kaylee Goncalves, 20-year-old housemate Zana Carnodol and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin.
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Anne Taylor, the attorney representing Brian Coberger, will arrive at a hearing in Rata County District Court on September 13, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (AP photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
Two other young women at home survived the massacre. For example, we also included people who told police he had seen a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” leaving the house and possibly carrying a vacuum.
Taylor argued that Coberger's autism provided “extreme flexibility” and prevented him from participating in his own defense at trial.
“Kohberger has very strict thoughts, has been patient with specific topics, has struggled to process information on the material basis of his work, and plans ahead of time, and has shown little insight into his own actions or feelings,” she wrote.
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Madison Morgen on the top left smiled on the shoulder of her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, who posed alongside two other housemates in Ethan Chapin, Zana Carnordal and Goncalves' final Instagram post, sharing four students before being stabbed and killed. (@kayleegoncalves/instagram)
She argued that because his client's communication skills are so inadequate, he struggles to support his defense, and that his lack of social awareness “provokes an unjust impression of repentance before the ju umpire.”
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She also updated her criticism of the extensive media coverage of the case, claiming that reports of the “brutal and shocking” murder could outweigh autism in the minds of the jury if he was found guilty.
Separately, Taylor asked the court to prohibit the prosecutor from using the diagnosis as aggravating factor.
“Because of his autism, others may see Brian as not aware of social cues. The conversation ends naturally, over-focusing topics and interest hobbies, talking repeatedly about the same topic, using complex vocabulary, and appearing to be self-absorbed. “Brian's autism also comes with obsessive-compulsiveness and eating disorders.”
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January 5, 2023, Brian Coberger of Rata County Courthouse for his first appearance. (Pool)
According to legal experts, the submission is a long shot. Judge Stephen Hippler has already rejected previous defence claims to strike the prosecutor's intentions to seek the death penalty.
“Autism can be alleviated during the penalty stage of the trial, but autism does not interfere with the application of the death penalty,” said Matthew Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and a death penalty expert.
Under current precedents, he said the death penalty is prohibited for juveniles and those with intellectual disabilities. Autism is not an intellectual disability.
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Brian Coberger will appear in the courthouse in Moscow, Idaho on October 26th, 2023. (Kai Eiseline/Pool)
He said that in the same case as “it's not even a severe mental illness,” the accused would not spare. Additionally, prosecutors say in their court application that Idaho law does not have insane defenses or that mental state does not allow defense against charges.
In its own submission, the prosecutor asked the judge to block expert testimony about Cobberger's neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations.
“Kohberger's motion is a brave effort to remove the death penalty from the table by his defense team, but it's not a success,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based lawyer whose past clients include Lori Vallow. “Kohberger's autism spectrum disorder reduces his negligence probably won't be enough to impose the death penalty in Idaho, the state that fired the squad in 2023.”
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The trial is scheduled to begin in Boise on August 11th, after years of delays and venue changes.
Rata County Judge John Judge has signed an innocence plea on behalf of Coberger for his arrest in May 2023.
