Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, say he should not face the death penalty because he has autism.
The latest effort to remove the death penalty from the high-profile case was laid out in a 28-page motion on Tuesday in which Kohberger’s lead attorney Anne Taylor argued that sentencing her client to death if he’s found guilty would violate his Eighth Amendment rights.
Kohberger,30, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, who were killed in the early morning of November 13, 2022, at their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
As the highly-anticipated trial grows closer, the former PhD criminology student’s attorneys have tried, but failed, to get it off the table on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional, breaks with evolving standards of decency and is arbitrarily applied.
Now, Kohberger’s attorneys say that his “autism spectrum disorder prevents him from being sentenced to death in a manner that accords with the constitutional requirements of proportionality and reliability.”
“In this case, where jurors will be forced to determine whether Mr. Kohberger will live or die, Mr. Kohberger himself is essentially a piece of evidence to be examined and evaluated; every movement and expression is subject to analysis,” Taylor wrote in the most recent filing.
Taylor pointed to the 2002 Atkins v. Virginia U.S. Supreme Court ruling that people with intellectual disabilities cannot be executed for a crime, as it would violate the Eighth Amendment.
Autism is not classified as an intellectual disability, but Taylor argued that it should be and wrote in the filing that it applies in this case because his condition has made it difficult for him to communicate with his legal team.
“There is little doubt that this reality will overpower any mitigating arguments based on ASD [autism spectrum disorder] as a matter of course, amounting to an unconstitutional risk that Mr. Kohberger—on account of his disability—will be unreliably convicted and sentenced to death,” she wrote.
Taylor added that sentencing people with intellectual disabilities creates an “unacceptable risk of wrongful execution” because the defendants aren’t as able to help in the mitigation part of their case.
She also wrote that there is concern that there is “substantial risk” that Kohberger’s behavior would create an unwarranted impression of a lack of remorse.
“A juror seeing the defendant engage in any one of these behaviors, while sitting at counsel table during a murder trial, would perceive the defendant as strange, out-of-control, and even disrespectful of such a solemn proceeding,” Taylor wrote.
The filing details a comprehensive neurological evaluation conducted by Rachel Orr, a New Hampshire-based neuropsychologist, that concludes Kohberger’s disorder has a “significant impact” on his life.
Orr observed that Kohberger specifically subtly rocks his upper torso when listening to someone, has limited facial expressions and exhibits “atypical eye contact,” such as an intense gaze, according to the filing.
Taylor highlighted her concerns about the online community that has analyzed every movement her client makes.
“These widely viewed and highly prejudicial media reports, draped in the language of ‘expertise’ and ‘analysis,’ demonize Mr. Kohberger for his disability,” she wrote in the court filing.
“In an environment so tainted by rampant and vitriolic conjecture, it is impossible for Mr. Kohberger to receive the individualized sentencing determination — including full and careful consideration of mitigation evidence — that the constitution demands whenever the state seeks to extinguish a human life.”
The motion is just one of several filed earlier this week prompting 4th District Judge Steven Hippler to issue a warning to the attorneys on both sides to quit filing so many sealed documents in the murder case.
Both the defense attorneys and prosecutors have made secrecy the norm rather than an exception, Hippler wrote in a court order on Monday.
“This runs counter to the public’s First Amendment rights to know what is going on in its courts,” Hippler wrote.
He ordered the attorneys to use the least restrictive steps necessary to protect confidential information in the case, such as redacting some lines or using initials instead of an individual’s full name.
Other sealed motions include one on whether the terms “psychopath” or “sociopath” can be used during the trial, and one from prosecutors about the presence of immediate family members in the courtroom during the trial. Some of the currently sealed documents will be redacted and made public, and others will remain sealed, the judge ruled.
Kohberger’s trial is expected to begin August 11 and last for more than three months.
