Defense attorneys for Idaho student murder suspect Brian Koberger urge them to reconsider denying efforts to have charges against him dismissed as prosecutors seek to speed up the quadruple stabbing suspect's trial time. asked the judge.
In a court filing last week, Koberger's team asked for a closed-door hearing to privately challenge the grand jury process. Their reasoning was sealed and typed.
Judge John Judge scheduled a closed hearing on the defense motions for Jan. 26, and a public hearing on the prosecution's request to set a trial date later than that date.
The judge previously rejected two defense motions to dismiss the case, saying Koberger's lawyers' arguments were “historically interesting and creative” but not based on state law.
Brian Koberger trial: Idaho prosecutors request date and schedule
Brian Koberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Rutter County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. (August Frank/Lewiston Morning Tribune, Pool Papers)
“Koburger failed the challenge” indictment The judge ruled that “due to juror bias, lack of sufficient admissible evidence, or prosecutorial misconduct, an impartial judge could find sufficient evidence to believe that Mr. Koberger committed the crime the state alleges.'' He was indicted by a grand jury.” Furthermore, the state did not engage in any prosecutorial misconduct in presenting the case to the jury. ”
Koberger allegedly broke into a six-bedroom home just off the University of Idaho campus and found six students inside, including Madison Morgen, 21, and Kaylee Gonsalves, 21. ), Zana Karnodol, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Housemates and best friends Morgen and Gonsalves were found in an upstairs bedroom. Police found the sheath of a Ka-Bar knife under Morgen's body, which had tested positive for Koberger's DNA.
Brian Koberger's motion to dismiss Idaho murder charges denied
Victims of the November 13, 2022 University of Idaho Massacre, left to right: Kaylee Gonsalves, Ethan Chapin, Zana Kernodle, and Madison Morgen. (Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
Officers arrived and found the bodies of Kernodle, who also lived in the home, and her boyfriend, Chapin, who had spent the night there, on the middle floor.
The homeowner donated the site to the school last year, and administrators demolished it on Dec. 28.
WATCH: Time-lapse video shows demolition of Idaho student's home
Click here to learn more about real crimes from FOX NEWS DIGITAL
In a letter to the University of Idaho obtained by FOX News' Christina Coleman, Lutter County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said investigators “will no longer use” off-campus rental housing for cases. He said he expected that.
“Our review of Idaho case law indicates that the current condition of the property is significantly different than it was at the time of the murder, and a 'jury view' would not be acceptable,” he wrote.
Jury schedule order (mobile users) here goes)
Experts are divided on the issue, with Philadelphia-area defense attorney David Gellman telling Fox News Digital that a jury visit to the crime scene is a “logistical nightmare” and that long after the murder, He said it may not influence jurors. Meanwhile, Boise-based attorney Edwina Elcox said a first-hand look inside could provide an unparalleled perspective.
Mr. Thompson requested that the trial begin this summer.
On January 3, 2023, Brian Christopher Koberger arrived at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to waive extradition to Idaho to face murder charges in the stabbings of four college students. (Fox News Digital Image Direct)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
police Koberger arrested December 30, 2022, a few weeks after the murder. By that time, he had gone on a cross-country road trip with his father and returned to his parents' home in Pennsylvania. At the time of the murder, he was studying for his Ph.D. He earned a doctorate in criminology from Washington State University, about a 10-mile drive from his home on King Road.
The suspect is accused of killing four students across the second floor of a three-story building and saving two other housemates, one of whom told police he was peeping through a bedroom door. He said he had seen a masked man at one time.
If convicted, Koberger could face the death penalty.
