What's taking so long? The many pretrial hearings in Idaho quadruple murder case against Bryan Kohberger. - East Idaho News
Published at 9:49 am, May 30, 2024
Here’s a timeline of some of the notable pretrial hearings and decisions so far:
June 9, 2023: A coalition of media organizations and the family of a murder victim came to court to
challenge the gag order placed on the parties in the case.
June 23, 2023: The judge denied both requests but issued a revised gag order that allows the parties to discuss topics that do not have a “substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing or otherwise influencing the outcome of the case.”
August 2, 2023: Kohberger’s attorneys said they would
use an alibi defense but couldn’t pin down their client’s specific location on the night of the killings because he was “driving during the late night and early morning hours.”
“Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time; at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment of the hours” of the attacks, his attorneys said in a court filing.
October 26, 2023: The judge
denied a request to dismiss the grand jury indictment after the defense argued there was an error in the grand jury instructions.
December 18, 2023: The judge
denied a second motion to dismiss the indictment after the defense argued prosecutors failed to comply fully with state rules on jury selection and the jury questionnaire.
February 28, 2024: Defense attorney Anne C. Taylor asked the court to allow three defense experts and others to view the
investigative genetic genealogy evidence, which has been sealed, to understand the full timeline of how police began to focus on Kohberger.