Judge weighs input on Kohberger survey

After hearing arguments and testimony for 21/2 hours Wednesday in Latah County District Court, Judge John Judge will decide whether a survey of potential jurors in the Bryan Kohberger case inappropriately spread prejudicial information about the case.

At issue is whether the questions crafted by trial consultant and survey expert Bryan Edelman, who was hired by Kohberger’s defense team, violated a nondissemination order signed by Judge last year. The nondissemination order prohibits people involved in the case from publicly disseminating certain information about evidence outside the courtroom.

Edelman said during the hearing that the purpose of the survey is to assess what residents have read, seen or heard about the Kohberger case in the media, and their opinions on the case. He uses this data to determine whether the trial should be moved to a new county with a less biased jury pool.

Kohberger’s attorney Anne Taylor will use data from that survey in a coming court hearing to discuss a venue change for the trial. Edelman could potentially survey residents in Ada County and either Bannock or Bonneville counties. These counties could be the site of Kohberger’s trial.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson accused Edelman’s survey of including “loaded questions” that introduce false information about the case to the survey takers. He said the survey assumes all 400 people who responded to the survey have heard rumors and reports about the case.

Taylor and Edelman argued that the Latah County survey uses the same methodology as surveys used in hundreds of cases for decades. Edelman said the questions were based on information that has been “widely disseminated” by the media. If the survey respondent did not know about the Kohberger case, they were not asked any follow-up questions about it, Edelman said.

Thompson is concerned about specific questions regarding what he says is false information that was not in the probable cause affidavit. The probable cause affidavit, which was made public after Kohberger was booked into Latah County Jail in January 2023, details the investigation into Kohberger.

One of those questions asks survey takers if they had read, seen or heard reports that Kohberger stalked his victims. Thompson said that information is now “planted into” the Latah County residents who took the survey.

Edelman argued that false information has already been proliferated by the media and he is trying to determine if it has reached the survey respondent.

When Thompson questioned Edelman about the survey, the exchange between the two men became heated and Taylor accused Thompson of “badgering” Edelman.

Edelman said the prosecution has created a false narrative that he had tainted the jury pool.

In his closing statement, Thompson said it seems the defense is OK with tainting jurors to ascertain the bias of other potential jurors. He suggested Edelman create a new survey.

Elisa Massoth, an attorney on Kohberger’s defense team, said the U.S. Supreme Court allows analysis of false media coverage and the people who took the survey did not form their opinion on the case when they answered the questions.

Judge will now consider what to do next. The survey has been put on hold until he makes a decision. The hearing to discuss a trial venue change has been pushed from May 14 to June 27.

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.