Prosecutors allowed to admit some traffic stop footage of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger

BOISE – During a traffic stop months before four University of Idaho college students were stabbed to death, the man accused of killing them questioned why the deputy who pulled him over needed his driver’s license and phone number.

Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger – charged with four counts of first-degree murder – argued during a hearing Wednesday that body-camera footage of the August 2022 traffic stop was more “prejudicial than probative,” and could be construed as Kohberger wanting to hide his identity from law enforcement.

Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler said the footage is relevant evidence to the state, at least when it comes to identifying Kohberger and his 2015 white Hyundai Elantra. But in a win for the defense, he acknowledged that some comments in the footage weren’t relevant and suggested some portions of the video might need to be redacted.

But he didn’t go so far as to omit the video from being played during Kohberger’s forthcoming capital murder trial, as Kohberger’s attorneys sought.

“If the court allows this evidence in, the state has the ability to use this to make many other points beyond identity,” defense attorney Elisa Massoth said in court, “and the jury would have the ability to potentially seek to ask to rewatch the video and draw other conclusions that we are worried about.”

Hippler, who presides over cases in Boise, where the case was moved after a change of venue was granted, specifically pointed to the question Kohberger asked Latah County Sheriff’s Cpl. Darren Duke about why he needed to give him his phone number, and a comment made by the corporal about seat belts.

“I don’t think any of that is relevant,” Hippler said, “and it does potentially create … some danger of unfair or unnecessary prejudice.”

Kohberger, 30, was studying criminology at Washington State University, roughly 9 miles west of the Idaho-Washington border.

If convicted, the state intends to seek the death penalty.

The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived in the off-campus home in Moscow with two other female roommates who went physically unharmed, while Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and slept over for the night.

This was one of many motions being taken up by Hippler on Wednesday at the Ada County Courthouse. Public attendees totaled about 25 people, including the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, Kristi and Steve Goncalves.

In recent months, attorneys for both sides have been trading court filings back and forth over a variety of evidence, including a request by the defense to preclude the footage from being admitted as evidence. Attempts by the Idaho Statesman to obtain the footage have been unsuccessful, as the Latah County Sheriff’s Office has denied a public records request.

But regarding the defense’s arguments in a prior filing that jurors could presume a traffic violation makes Kohberger more prone to wrongful behavior, Hippler said that isn’t reasonable.

“I think there is zero danger that the jury will conclude that because he didn’t wear a seat belt or speed, that he therefore has a propensity to commit murder,” he said from the bench. “I just can’t imagine any reasonable person coming to such a conclusion.”

He added that jurors will be instructed that the footage is only relevant to identify Kohberger and his vehicle. The court broke for lunch at around noon and arguments are expected to continue into Wednesday afternoon, and possibly Thursday.

Kohberger’s capital murder trial is scheduled for this summer, with jury selection starting in late July.