Prospective jurors in the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder trial have issued a chilling warning ahead of next year’s explosive court case in the killings of four University of Idaho students.
The urgent warning came in a filing by attorneys representing the 29-year-old criminology student that cited residents of Latah County, Idaho, who predicted there would be riots in the streets if Kohberger is acquitted.
“They would burn down the courthouse. Outrage would be a mild description,” one resident told a defense expert in a telephone survey of hundreds of potential jurors. according to documents obtained by Court TV.
“There would probably be a riot and he wouldn’t last long outside because someone else would do justice to that good boy,” said another.
Kohberger will stand trial for the murders of college students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at their off-campus home.
Defense attorneys representing Bryan Kohberger have argued that a “mob mentality” against him is justification enough to move his trial out of Latah County.
Defense attorneys now argue that those responses prove the trial should be moved from Moscow to the capital, Boise.
His attorneys say prospective jurors in Ada County, home to Boise, offered much more measured responses to the question of what would happen if Kohberger was not convicted, including “they would go on with their life as usual” and “I don’t know if there would be any strong feelings.”
Defense attorneys say the difference in responses from residents of the two counties indicates that those who were more exposed to media coverage of the quadruple murders were more likely to prejudge Kohberger’s guilt.
“It is understandable that the traumatized city of Moscow is filled with deep-rooted prejudices about culpability,” the lawyers wrote in the filing. according to the Idaho Statesman.
‘The mob mentality of Latah County will never produce a (jury pool) that results in a representative cross-section of the community.’
Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students (from left) Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle on November 13, 2022.
They noted that the county received the most media coverage of the case in the state and argued that much of that coverage is “inaccurate and inflammatory.”
“The media coverage that is flooding Latah County fails to tell citizens that no evidence has been presented at this time; that there are no facts on record at this time; that Bryan Kohberger is innocent,” the filing says.
‘The hype surrounding Mr. Kohberger has been ongoing since December 30, 2022. It goes up and down, but it doesn’t subside.’
The defense also rejected other solutions to ensure an impartial jury at the trial.
They said the state’s proposal to move the jury pool to neighboring Nez Pearce County would not help, arguing that the entire northern Idaho region has been tainted by media coverage of the case.
They also rejected a proposed solution of vetting jurors, citing precedents showing vetting alone is insufficient to ensure impartiality, and said isolating a jury would be “unnecessary and unsustainable.” according to NBC News.
The students were found dead that day inside their off-campus home, which has since been demolished.
The scenes inside the house were so gruesome that blood was dripping down the outside of the property’s wall, in what investigators described as the worst crime scene they have ever seen.
But Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson argued that the defense failed to meet its burden of proof under Idaho law that a change of venue is “necessary and convenient.”
He says the killings were so high-profile and the media coverage was so “pervasive and wide-ranging” that moving the trial would likely not result in jurors unfamiliar with the case.
Prosecutors also argued last week that a judge should consider the “interest of justice” for the families of the four students, who live nearby.
Through their lawyer, the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves has said they want the trial to remain in Moscow, where Kohberger has been detained since January 2023.
“We are hopeful that the trial will remain in Latah County so as not to disrupt the scheduling order, and we are praying that there will be no delays,” the statement said.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022.
According to cellphone data provided by prosecutors, the route Bryan Kohberger allegedly took on the night of the brutal Idaho murders may be a crucial piece of evidence in the state’s case against the 28-year-old. In their alibi filing, his attorneys say they plan to challenge this data.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022, more than a month after the bloody murders that shocked the nation.
Prosecutors say his DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath found at the victim’s off-campus home, although the murder weapon was never found.
They have also said cellphone data and surveillance placed Kohberger’s car at the crime scene, though the defense has disputed those claims.
The defense, however, said Kohberger was miles from the off-campus home where the students were killed, and in an official alibi in May 2024, they claimed Kohberger was “driving alone” on the night of the murders “to look at the moon and stars.”
A trial is now scheduled for June 2025, and a hearing to decide whether to move the trial is scheduled for Thursday.
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