Remember when the University of Idaho murder trial was supposed to happen in October? Of last year??
Well, the defense has managed to delay over and over with a deluge of motions. The most recent date for accused killer Bryan Kohberger to stand trial is June 2025, but we’ll see if that holds. Because his legal team has just gotten yet another win.
See, the defense has long argued for a change of venue. Their rationale is that a trial that takes place in Moscow, the community shocked by the brutal murders, would be too prejudicial. Why? News coverage. Though the case has become a national true crime story, the people in Moscow are the most hungry for justice. The defense argued they’d have followed the coverage of Kohberger’s arrest intently — and would likely have long ago made up their minds he was the killer.
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And, perhaps surprisingly, the judge in the case agreed! On Monday Judge John Judge granted the motion for a change of venue, writing:
“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 ‘reasonable likelihood’ that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County.”
He added:
“The court has spent many months carefully considering the legal and logistical concerns with a trial of this length and magnitude, carefully reading each submission, listening to each expert, and evaluating each party’s position. Based upon the totality of the factors, Defendant’s Motion for Change of Venue is granted.”
We guess it makes sense. But again, will trying the case a couple counties over make that big a difference to the jury pool? When parents from all over the state sent their kids to the University of Idaho? That entire school was terrified for a month after the killings! Then again, the jury pool in another community is less likely to find folks who knew Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, or Ethan Chapin personally.
It all may not matter to the end result anyway, as there’s still that mountain of evidence against Kohberger — and only his absolute trash alibi to fight it all with. But still, it’s a win for the defense after months of argument. And it does give Kohberger a better chance.
Innerestingly this means the judge in the case will no longer be Judge Judge, who made the ruling. Instead the Idaho state Supreme Court will assign a new venue and a new judge from that venue to preside over the case. That was something else the judge mentioned in his decision — that his own court was a small one, in a small community. And there would likely be logistical issues with all the press likely to want to attend or monitor the trial from outside. This just isn’t the kind of circus the Moscow courthouse is built for. He wrote:
“Thus, the interest of justice requires that the trial be moved to a 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.”
Now that does make a lot of sense. What do YOU think of this decision, Perezcious paralegals??
[Image via Latah County Sheriff’s Office/Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram.]
