Judge in Idaho murders trial orders change of venue for Bryan Kohberger
A judge has agreed to move the trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, to a different city.
In an order dated Friday, Idaho Second District Judge John C. Judge said he was concerned about Kohberger's ability to receive a fair trial at the Latah County courthouse in Moscow, given extensive media coverage of the case as well as statements by public officials suggesting Kohberger's guilt.
He also noted that the courthouse isn't big enough to accommodate the case and that the county sheriff's office doesn't have enough deputies to handle security. He did not specify where the trial would be moved.
"It is undisputed that there has been significant media coverage in this case throughout the State and nationally," Judge wrote. "While some of the coverage has been neutral reporting of the Court proceedings, much of the coverage has been sensationalized and prejudicial to Kohberger."
Kohberger's defense team sought the change of venue, saying strong emotions in the close-knit community and constant news coverage will make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the small university town where the killings occurred. Prosecutors argued that any problems with potential bias could be resolved by simply calling a larger pool of potential jurors and questioning them carefully.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, which is across the state line in Pullman, faces four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
The four University of Idaho students were killed sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, in a rental house near the campus.
Police arrested Kohberger six weeks later at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending winter break.
The killings stunned students at both universities and left the small city of Moscow deeply shaken. The case also spurred a flurry of news coverage, much of which Kohberger's defense team says was inflammatory and left the community strongly biased against their client.
Earlier this year, Kohberger's attorney Anne Taylor argued in court that prosecutors were withholding information from the defense team, claiming that Latah County prosecutors have not provided a full video that allegedly shows Kohberger's vehicle by the residence where the four students were killed. Taylor said that the defense has only "received parts of" the video, which is described in the probable cause affidavit that was used to arrest Kohberger, and said that the video did not have sound.
Goncalves' family said Monday they were "incredibly disappointed" in the change of venue, saying "the only good thing about this decision is it will be Judge Judge's last decision in this case."
"If the Judge knew Latah County could not handle this trial for safety reasons, not enough court clerks, logistics and lacking space, why did we waste over a year in a county he knew was not going to handle the trial," the family said Monday, criticizing several other decisions Judge had made throughout the pretrial process.
Goncalves' family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system.
"This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions," the family said in a statement.