In the latest twist in Bryan Kohberger’s quadruple murder case in Idaho, the judge said the trial for the deaths of four University of Idaho students must be moved out of the county where the killings occurred.
Latah County District Judge John Judge cited potential prejudice to the defense if the trial went forward in the close-knit community that’s been inundated with media coverage since the 2022 deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus home in the Latah County city of Moscow. (A not-guilty plea on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary was entered on Kohberger’s behalf in May 2023. He may face the death penalty if convicted.)
Among other things, the judge lamented “the ongoing spread of prejudicial misinformation, rumors, and patently false theories of the case on social media outlets such as Facebook, podcasts, and blogs.”
While the parties agreed that the case generated extensive media coverage, they disagreed about how to ensure a fair trial. Kohberger argued that it needed to move away from the area of the crime scene. The prosecution, meanwhile, said that extensive questioning of potential jurors could help ensure fairness.
In granting the defense motion to change venue, Judge noted that Latah County is relatively small and that, “While the issue of extensive, sensationalized coverage is not unique to Latah County, it is potentially more impactful given the volume of coverage coupled with the smaller population.”
“Considering the undisputed evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the news coverage in this case, and the smaller population in Latah County, the defense has met the rather low standard of demonstrating ‘a reasonable likelihood’ that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County,” Judge wrote.
He added that the venue must change for practical reasons, too, noting that Latah County lacks the necessary resources to provide security and even sufficient space to conduct such a big trial there.
“While traveling to another county for three months is indeed inconvenient for the attorneys, the Court, some family members of the victims, and some witnesses, having the trial at the Latah County courthouse would also be inconvenient in numerous ways and, beyond that, would present serious safety risks,” Judge wrote, adding that the interest of justice “requires that the trial be moved to venue with the resources, both in terms of personnel and space, necessary to effectively and efficiently handle a trial of this magnitude and length so that the parties and the Court can focus on the case and not on peripheral issues.”
Judge’s order doesn’t say where the new venue will be. Rather, it says that, under state rules, the court refers the matter to the administrative director of the courts for the state supreme court to assign it to a proper venue in another district. NBC News reported that the trial was tentatively set for next June.
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