Topline: Months before Kohberger goes to court in August, his defense team is working hard to take the death penalty sentence off the table.
Published: March 23, 2025 9:00 am ET
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MOSCOW, ID — Kohberger, a former criminology graduate student at Washington State University, is charged with first-degree-murder of four Idaho college students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, in November 2022.
While prosecutors have made it clear that they intend to seek the death penalty in this case, his defense team, led by Anne C. Taylor, has filed more than a dozen motions to keep their client off death row.
The defense has pursued multiple strategies. Early motions asserted that the death penalty is unconstitutional, with Taylor arguing, “Idaho’s system of obtaining death convictions is unconstitutional at this time” and that the state’s “guarantee to a speedy trial prevents effective assistance of counsel in death penalty cases,” according to CNN.
A more recent defense motion claims that Kohberger has autism spectrum disorder. The defense argues that “executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” “Due to his ASD, Mr. Kohberger simply cannot comport himself in a manner that aligns with societal expectations of normalcy. This creates an unconscionable risk that he will be executed because of his disability, rather than his culpability,” his attorneys said. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has previously declined to extend death penalty exemptions to developmental disorders disorders like ASD, unlike intellectual disabilities (as in Atkins v. Virginia, 2002), which could weaken this argument’s legal footing (CNN).
Another defense tactic questions key DNA evidence – touch DNA from a knife sheath found at the crime scene, linked to Kohberger via genetic genealogy and confirmed by a match to his father’s DNA, as reported by CBS News. Unsealed documents reveal plans to argue this evidence was planted by the real killer, while suggesting it doesn’t definitively place Kohberger at the scene.
Kohberger’s defense team is also trying to use an argument successfully made in the high-profile case against Lori Vallow Daybell, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee. This argument alleges that the prosecution “shirked its responsibility” to disclose evidence on time and violated the court’s discovery deadlines. They are requesting Judge Steven Hippler to therefore remove the death penalty as an option in this case. So far, Judge Hippler has not ruled in the defense’s favor on removing the death penalty and pending motions, including those tied to ASD and discovery violations remain unresolved as of now.
The trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, 2025, and could last several months.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
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Will Bryan Kohberger face the death penalty?
Months before Kohberger goes to court in August, his defense team is working hard to take the death penalty sentence off the table.
By Jennifer Hooper
Published: March 23, 2025 9:00 am ET
MOSCOW, ID — Kohberger, a former criminology graduate student at Washington State University, is charged with first-degree-murder of four Idaho college students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, in November 2022.
While prosecutors have made it clear that they intend to seek the death penalty in this case, his defense team, led by Anne C. Taylor, has filed more than a dozen motions to keep their client off death row.
The defense has pursued multiple strategies. Early motions asserted that the death penalty is unconstitutional, with Taylor arguing, “Idaho’s system of obtaining death convictions is unconstitutional at this time” and that the state’s “guarantee to a speedy trial prevents effective assistance of counsel in death penalty cases,” according to CNN.
A more recent defense motion claims that Kohberger has autism spectrum disorder. The defense argues that “executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” “Due to his ASD, Mr. Kohberger simply cannot comport himself in a manner that aligns with societal expectations of normalcy. This creates an unconscionable risk that he will be executed because of his disability, rather than his culpability,” his attorneys said. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has previously declined to extend death penalty exemptions to developmental disorders disorders like ASD, unlike intellectual disabilities (as in Atkins v. Virginia, 2002), which could weaken this argument’s legal footing (CNN).
Another defense tactic questions key DNA evidence – touch DNA from a knife sheath found at the crime scene, linked to Kohberger via genetic genealogy and confirmed by a match to his father’s DNA, as reported by CBS News. Unsealed documents reveal plans to argue this evidence was planted by the real killer, while suggesting it doesn’t definitively place Kohberger at the scene.
Kohberger’s defense team is also trying to use an argument successfully made in the high-profile case against Lori Vallow Daybell, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee. This argument alleges that the prosecution “shirked its responsibility” to disclose evidence on time and violated the court’s discovery deadlines. They are requesting Judge Steven Hippler to therefore remove the death penalty as an option in this case. So far, Judge Hippler has not ruled in the defense’s favor on removing the death penalty and pending motions, including those tied to ASD and discovery violations remain unresolved as of now.
The trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, 2025, and could last several months.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
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Editor Picks
Latest Articles
Will Bryan Kohberger face the death penalty?
Months before Kohberger goes to court in August, his defense team is working hard to take the death penalty sentence off the table.
By Jennifer Hooper
Published: March 23, 2025 9:00 am ET
MOSCOW, ID — Kohberger, a former criminology graduate student at Washington State University, is charged with first-degree-murder of four Idaho college students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, in November 2022.
While prosecutors have made it clear that they intend to seek the death penalty in this case, his defense team, led by Anne C. Taylor, has filed more than a dozen motions to keep their client off death row.
The defense has pursued multiple strategies. Early motions asserted that the death penalty is unconstitutional, with Taylor arguing, “Idaho’s system of obtaining death convictions is unconstitutional at this time” and that the state’s “guarantee to a speedy trial prevents effective assistance of counsel in death penalty cases,” according to CNN.
A more recent defense motion claims that Kohberger has autism spectrum disorder. The defense argues that “executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” “Due to his ASD, Mr. Kohberger simply cannot comport himself in a manner that aligns with societal expectations of normalcy. This creates an unconscionable risk that he will be executed because of his disability, rather than his culpability,” his attorneys said. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has previously declined to extend death penalty exemptions to developmental disorders disorders like ASD, unlike intellectual disabilities (as in Atkins v. Virginia, 2002), which could weaken this argument’s legal footing (CNN).
Another defense tactic questions key DNA evidence – touch DNA from a knife sheath found at the crime scene, linked to Kohberger via genetic genealogy and confirmed by a match to his father’s DNA, as reported by CBS News. Unsealed documents reveal plans to argue this evidence was planted by the real killer, while suggesting it doesn’t definitively place Kohberger at the scene.
Kohberger’s defense team is also trying to use an argument successfully made in the high-profile case against Lori Vallow Daybell, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee. This argument alleges that the prosecution “shirked its responsibility” to disclose evidence on time and violated the court’s discovery deadlines. They are requesting Judge Steven Hippler to therefore remove the death penalty as an option in this case. So far, Judge Hippler has not ruled in the defense’s favor on removing the death penalty and pending motions, including those tied to ASD and discovery violations remain unresolved as of now.
The trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, 2025, and could last several months.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
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