Kohberger appears in Boise courtroom for first time. New judge weighs trial date change
BOISE – A line of onlookers, some of whom had been waiting since 8 a.m., gathered at the Ada County Courthouse to attend Bryan Kohberger’s first hearing in Boise on Thursday.
The case was moved earlier this month following a decision by Judge John Judge of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District that stipulated the high-profile trial be moved out of Latah County because of, among other things, a lack of resources. He also stepped down from the case, leaving the Idaho Supreme Court to select the new venue and a new judge.
Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler was assigned the case and held a status conference hearing to determine whether a new trial calendar would be needed.
“I’d like to say I’m happy to be here, but why start with an untruth?” Hippler said, setting the tone as he addressed the courtroom.
He said the stakes were “high as they can be” and reminded the attorneys that their goal should not be victory but honoring their oaths to the judicial system.
Kohberger, a former Washington State University graduate student, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students at an off-campus home in November 2022. He also is charged with one count of felony burglary. The victims were Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21.
Kohberger, 29, attended Thursday’s hearing in handcuffs and a dark suit. Hippler said he has not decided yet on a motion from the defense to allow Kohberger to continue wearing “street clothes” in court as the proceedings move forward.
Kohberger did not speak throughout the hearing.
Both the judge and defense addressed issues they had with the previous trial dates set by Judge in Latah County. Those dates, which had the trial running from June 2 to Aug. 29, would wipe out the entire summer and be burdensome on jurors, particularly those who are parents, according to Hippler. The judge said it could pose child care difficulties and interfere with other family obligations when school is out.
Hippler proposed to either start the trial a month earlier, at the beginning of May, or wait until the start of September. The prosecution, led by Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, said it would prefer May, but the defense pushed for a September start.
The defense has faced challenges that included the death of an expert witness, leading the team representing Kohberger to find a new expert in a certain aspect of the case, and a large amount of information sent by prosecutors, according to defense attorney Anne Taylor.
“Since August, we have received about 398 gigabytes of new information, and I can tell the court that nobody on our team has read every bit of that yet,” Taylor said. “So there’s a vast amount of discovery to continue to go through.”
She declined to provide information about the defense expert in open court, saying that would reveal too much information about strategy to the prosecution and public, something Hippler said he understood. He offered to hold an ex parte hearing – which meant only the defense team and Hippler would be present – so that he’d have more information before deciding on trial dates.
That hearing took place after the status conference, which ended without new trial dates being set.
Nate Poppino, Idaho Supreme Court communications manager, told the Idaho Stateman that Hippler likely would issue a written order once he had made a ruling.