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Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, are making a final push for his trial to be moved, arguing that a “mob mentality” has formed against him in Latah County.
Residents of the county who were surveyed by the defense said there would be riots and other violent repercussions if Kohberger was found not guilty, according to a new filing made public on August 20.
Kohberger’s attorneys cited the inflammatory and threatening remarks in the filing as they once again pushed to move the trial to Ada County, home to Boise, the state’s capitol, over 300 miles away. Kohberger is set to stand trial in 2025.
One resident said that “there would likely be a riot and he wouldn’t last long, because someone would do the good ole’ boy justice,” according to the filing.
Another said “they’d burn the courthouse down” and that “outrage would be a mild description.” While one other warned that residents “would probably find him and kill him.”
“The mob mentality within the community is the exact reason” why the trial should be moved out of Latah County, the defense attorneys stated in the filing.
The former Washington State University graduate student’s lawyers asked in June for the case to be relocated, arguing extensive pre-trial media reporting about the case in the small university town of Moscow, Idaho, meant he would not get a fair trial.
But prosecutors said the court should “decline to relocate itself, the state, and scores of witnesses hundreds of miles only to face another jury pool with similarly high media exposure.”
They accused Kohberger’s team of using flawed survey data in its requests to move the trial, and that the interest of justice for the victims’ families would be affected if the case moved elsewhere.
Prosecutors proposed keeping the trial in Latah County, but suggested expanding the jury pool from neighboring Nez Perce County. However, the defense argued in the most recent filing that this would not solve the issue because Nez Perce County residents were exposed to the same media coverage that they said was “often inaccurate and inflammatory.”
In the filing, the defense provided answers from a survey they conducted with Ada County residents, which was a stark difference from those in Latah County, as they showed less of an “emotional connection” to the case.
When asked how residents would feel if Kohberger were found not guilty, one responded, “they would go on with life as always.”
Another said: “That’s what the jury is for, to decide based on the evidence. If a jury finds him not guilty, then he wasn’t guilty. Because they hear the evidence at the trial.”
The defense also referred to two high-profile capital cases in Idaho that have recently had a venue change, including State v. Lori Vallow and State v. Chad Daybell.
“Jurors in both cases provided in-depth media interviews post-trial and expressed that the Ada County court staff and marshals’ provided great infrastructure that made a big difference in their ability to withstand the significant commitment,” the defense pointed out in the filing.
Another solution offered by the state was the vetting of jurors, but the defense rejected this proposal citing precedent that vetting alone is insufficient to ensure impartiality.
“The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,” the defense said as they concluded their argument in the filing.
Attorneys for both sides will be back in court on August 29 to present their arguments on the issue.
Kohberger, who was a PhD student at Washington State University studying criminology, is charged with murder for the killing of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, who were found stabbed to death at their off-campus house in November 2022.
Police linked Kohberger to the murders that rocked the college town through DNA found on a knife sheath, cell phone data, an eyewitness account, and his white Hyundai Elantra. He was arrested six weeks after the murders.
In May 2023, Kohberger declined to enter a plea prompting the judge to enter his plea as not guilty on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will pursue the death penalty at trial.
