Bryan Kohberger Aims to Withdraw Guilty Plea in Idaho Murder Case
Bryan Kohberger, who faces charges for the quadruple murder of University of Idaho students, is seeking to retract his earlier guilty plea. In a post-conviction petition, Kohberger claims he received ineffective legal assistance, was coerced, and was misled, while asking for a new trial. The families of the victims, like Kaylee Goncalves’ mother, have shared their disappointment but mentioned they weren’t entirely caught off guard by his legal actions.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s Legal Setback
Mackenzie Shirilla, a convicted double murderer, faced another disappointment as the Ohio Supreme Court denied her request for reconsideration regarding her last appeal. Now 21, she is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life after being convicted for the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan. This tragic incident occurred when she allegedly drove her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, in 2022.
The Chief Justice, Sharon Kennedy, rejected Shirilla’s motion, stating that the request and related arguments needed to be revisited. “It is ordered by the court that the motion for reconsideration in this case is denied,” she wrote.
Shirilla’s legal troubles stem from her conviction in 2023 after a bench trial, and prosecutors claimed she deliberately crashed her car to escape a detrimental relationship with Russo, with Flanagan being an unfortunate casualty present in the vehicle. The recent denial leaves a previous ruling intact, which determined that Shirilla’s post-conviction challenge was submitted a day late.
Her legal team contended that the missed deadline came from confusion, even citing a mistake in the 2024 leap year calendar. They aimed to present claims of inadequate legal representation, particularly arguing that her lawyers failed to investigate evidence suggesting she suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a condition that might have caused her to lose consciousness prior to the crash and could explain her lack of braking.
The court’s current focus, however, is on the timing of Shirilla’s petition rather than the validity of her claims. Ohio law stipulates that such petitions typically must be filed within one year after the trial transcript is available in the court of appeals. The transcript linked to Shirilla’s case was filed on October 24, 2023, marking the deadline as October 23, 2024. Unfortunately for Shirilla, her submission fell on October 24, 2024, the one day past the deadline.
Shirilla’s argument revolved around a belief that the timer should have started later, notably when the juvenile bindover transcripts were filed. The appellate court dismissed this reasoning, emphasizing that the statute refers strictly to the “trial transcript.” Moreover, they clarified that it’s a 365-day countdown, not adhering to a calendar year.
Despite her team asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reevaluate the situation, they declined jurisdiction back in June before Shirilla’s attorneys sought a review of that decision. The case has gained renewed attention following a Netflix release, “The Crash,” which parallels her legal battles.
In 2023, she was found guilty of not only murder but also felonious assault and aggravated vehicular homicide, with prosecutors demonstrating that Shirilla’s car was traveling at an alarming nearly 100 mph without any braking before the tragic crash. Even now, Shirilla maintains that the incident was not deliberate.
