TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After a judge denied a motion to dismiss charges in the Idaho murders case last month, Bryan Kohberger is due back in court for a hearing that could decide when he will stand trial on charges of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and burglary in the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 22; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four were found dead inside an off-campus rental home in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
The hearing, scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, will touch on several topics, including when the trial may begin and a motion to move the trial away from the area of the murders.
News Channel 8 will stream coverage of the hearing starting at 3 p.m. on this page, in the WFLA app, and on the WFLA social media pages.
On Jan. 30, the defense team for Kohberger filed a motion in hopes of getting the case moved outside of Latah County. The motion argues the court can’t get a fair and impartial jury in Latah County due to allegations made against Kohberger by the media and says the county doesn’t have a large enough population to overcome bias in the community.
The prosecution objected to the motion on Feb. 8, saying the change of venue request was premature and the defense hadn’t provided sufficient information to back the claims, noting the Idaho Supreme Court explained that “publicity by itself does not require a change of venue.”
The defense and prosecution have also been at odds on a potential start date for the trial.
During the last hearing, the defense asked for a summer 2025 trial, arguing the large volume of discovery items would be impossible to sort through in time to make the 2024 date the prosecution pushed for.
“There is no possible way I can even read or watch everything I have now or react to things that are still coming in if we’re to have a deadline in time for a summer 2024 trial,” Anne Taylor, one of Kohberger’s attorneys, said in court. “As recently as January 4th, we received discovery that contained over 9,000 tips that law enforcement had obtained.”
The defense said it could be ready by March of 2025 if all went well with discovery going forward.
“I’m not gonna just let it hang for too long,” Judge Judge said during the hearing. “It’s really hard for me, right now, to set something in 2025. Even though that might be the reality.”
