A closed hearing held on Tuesday to discuss the status of Bryan Kohberger‘s representation could have addressed some of the legal team’s challenges as the trial draws nearer, according to a former Idaho attorney general.
Kohberger, 29, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He is accused of fatally stabbing University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus residence in 2022.
David Leroy, former attorney general and lieutenant governor of Idaho, spoke to Newsweek about how the trial’s relocation from Latah County to Ada County poses difficulties for the defense.
“That whole issue of proximity with regard to representation is an issue that needs to be discussed because face-to-face access will be difficult, given that distance, with an incarcerated defendant in preparing for trial,” Leroy said.
The trial was moved to the largest county in the state last month after the judge presiding over the case at the time granted the defense’s request for a change of venue.
Ada County is around 300 miles away from Latah County.
“That raises significant implications for North Idaho-based public defenders in terms of communicating with their client in preparation for trial,” Leroy said.
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger (L) met with a judge for a closed hearing on Tuesday. Kohberger’s lawyer Anne Taylor (R) is one of few public defenders qualified to lead a death penalty case.
August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP, Pool and AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool
Leroy said the legal team is also being impacted by a statewide change to the public defender system that went into effect on October 1. Under the new system, the state pays for the costs associated with public defenders, while counties previously covered the costs.
“That doesn’t necessarily change the personnel or the staffing of the trial, but it does change the financial aspects of who’s paying the bill,” Leroy said. “The state legislature, in creating this new system, put together a single statewide fund of taxpayer dollars from which all public defenders in the state are now to be compensated for their salary and the expenses of such trials.”
Leroy said the new system has led to some public defenders receiving lower compensation.
“We have seen some resignations from the public defender service,” Leroy said. “I don’t have any idea whether that applies to the public defense team that has evolved with the Kohberger case, but it’s certainly possible that that is an issue in terms of having the existing counsel go forward at what pay level and at what cost paid either by the state or the county, or perhaps some negotiation unique to this case that covers both.”
Leroy said it would be challenging for Kohberger to change representation this late in the case.
“It would be of significant advantage to the defendant, I believe, in a complicated case like this, and it’s been already proceeding for almost two years, to keep the same counsel rather than try to bring some new counsel up to speed,” Leroy said.
Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, also spoke to Newsweek about how changing lawyers would impact the case.
“To change representation years after a case has started and they’ve been working on it, I mean, it’s challenging because new lawyers need to get up to speed, and they essentially have to start all over,” Rahmani said.
Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted. Kohberger’s lawyer, Anne Taylor, is one of 13 public defenders in the state approved by the Idaho Public Defense Commission to be the lead in a death penalty case.
“If, for some reason, there’s an issue in the representation or Kohberger wants a new attorney, there’s only a handful of folks that could handle a case like this,” Rahmani said. “Generally speaking, you’d have to at least second chair a capital case before you can first chair—that means be the primary on a case where the government’s seeking the death sentence.”
Newsweek reached out to Taylor for comment.
Kohberger’s legal team objected to the state’s intention to seek the death penalty in a series of motions. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for November 7.
Capital punishment was taken off the table in another high-profile case in the state last year. An Idaho judge decided in March of last year that Lori Vallow Daybell would not face the death penalty if she were convicted of murder in the deaths of her two children. The decision came after new DNA evidence was discovered but could not be tested and admitted into court in time for the trial. She was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in prison.
However, Rahmani thinks the death penalty will remain an option in the Kohberger case.
“As long as the government provides timely notice, which they have, and they comply with their other obligations, including their discovery obligations, they can seek the death penalty for a case like this where there’s a quadruple murder,” Rahmani said.
Kohberger’s trial was originally scheduled to begin in June of next year. On Wednesday, District Judge Steven Hippler pushed the start date back to August 11, 2025, with jury selection beginning on July 31. The trial is expected to conclude that November.
Kohberger is being held in Ada County Jail in Boise as he awaits trial.
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