LATAH COUNTY, Idaho (Court TV) — A hearing scheduled for Friday for Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students, has been pushed to October.
Kohberger was scheduled to appear in court for two separate hearings on Friday to dismiss the indictments against him, but an advisory on Thursday from the Clerk of Court indicated that “due to illness” the hearings would now be on Oct. 26.
Bryan Kohberger, second from left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is escorted out of the courtroom as two of his attorneys, Anne Taylor, second from right, and Jay Logsdon, right, confer following a hearing in Latah County District Court, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
In May, Kohberger was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and burglary in the November 13, 2022, deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Kohberger’s defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the grand jury’s indictment in July, arguing the grand jury was misled as to the standard of proof required for an indictment. The motion, which does not specify any language used in Kohberger’s indictment, emphasizes the standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt” that attorneys allege was not given to the grand jury.
In the motion, attorneys have asked for the indictment to be dismissed or a remand for a preliminary hearing.
The motion is scheduled to be heard at 1 p.m. on Oct. 26, which will be a busy day in the Latah County courtroom for Kohberger, the attorneys and Judge John Judge. While cameras are scheduled to be allowed into the courtroom for the afternoon hearing, a separate hearing on a different motion to dismiss the indictment will be closed when it is held that morning.
At 9:30 a.m., attorneys are scheduled to discuss a second motion to dismiss filed by Kohberger in August. That motion alleges grand jury bias, inadmissible evidence, insufficient evidence and prosecutorial misconduct as reasons why the indictment should be dismissed. The motion, as well as the motion in opposition filed by the state, has been sealed and is not available for Court TV to review.
Kohberger and his attorneys were previously in court last week for a hearing where he and prosecutors argued that cameras should be banned from the courtroom for all future proceedings in the case, including the trial. A coalition of media, including Court TV, has opposed their motions. The judge has not yet issued his decision.
