Bryan Kohberger's Defense Lawyer Goes on the Offense

Bryan Kohberger's attorney is going "on the offense" by filing a motion to compel prosecutors to turn over more evidence in the University of Idaho murders case, according to a lawyer.

Kohberger, 28, is accused of breaking into an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of November 13 and fatally stabbing four students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Then a graduate student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania on December 30. He has not yet entered a plea to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary, but a lawyer who previously represented him said he was "eager to be exonerated."

Ahead of June's preliminary hearing in the case, Anne Taylor, the public defender representing Kohberger, filed a motion to compel discovery, writing that prosecutors have not handed over materials in the case that she believes contain exculpatory evidence.

The materials were previously requested in discovery motions filed in February and March, according to the one filed on May 4.

Among the requests are: all bodycam and dashcam footage from Kohberger's search and arrest in Pennsylvania; copies of lab reports detailing the forensic evidence collection and analysis of items recovered at Kohberger's parents' home and his vehicle; reports and notes about all lab testing connected to the case; and all recordings and notes from the interrogation of Kohberger by police.

Kohberger's attorney is doing "what any good defense lawyer does: go on the offense," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek.

"Judges don't like it when the state doesn't turn over evidence, and judges can sanction the prosecution as a result."

Rahmani noted that an Idaho judge took the death penalty off the table in the murder trial of Lori Vallow "because prosecutors didn't comply with their discovery obligations."

Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney, told Newsweek that a detailed defense motion to compel the state to produce additional or specific items during discovery "is not unusual."

"Of course, several items sought by the defense are, or were, once located in Pennsylvania, so the Idaho authorities must obtain the evidence, review it, and classify it before anything could be produced or shown to the defense," he said.

Both Rahmani and McAuliffe noted that prosecutors have an obligation to turn over exculpatory material with or without a defense motion.

Exculpatory evidence "must be disclosed under the Supreme Court's Brady decision," Rahmani said. "Other evidence like bodycams and lab results have to be disclosed upon request under the Idaho Criminal Rules.

"The preliminary hearing is coming up next month, and prosecutors should produce all required evidence well before then."

McAuliffe added: "The defense motion regarding discovery is meant, in part, to put the government on notice that certain items have potential specific significance in the case. The discovery motion also creates a clear record of what the defense believes it is entitled to see and examine.

"The discovery process in a potential capital prosecution, including the Kohberger case, should be robust and detailed."

However, Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI agent, said that some of the materials requested by Kohberger's attorney may not even exist.

"Just because you requested it doesn't mean they have it," she told Newsweek. "That happens a lot; they throw in the kitchen sink, per se, they're going to put a blanket description of everything they want."

She noted that some jurisdictions don't have body cameras, or officers may forget to turn them on or not wear them unless engaging with the public. Handwritten notes may not have been produced either, she said.

Coffindaffer also said that it was also possible that the defense team may have missed the materials in the evidence that has already been turned over.

"I've seen this often, when you have large voluminous cases like this. Sometimes the discovery has been made and the defense just hasn't found it," she said.

"This was massive, the amount of discovery that exists in this case...I would expect there to be so much information. Sometimes the discovery team will miss something."

It's also possible, she said, that authorities in Pennsylvania have not yet turned over the evidence they have to the prosecution.

"They are at the mercy of Pennsylvania authorities to let it be known if the items exist, and if they do, to get it to them," she said. "The prosecution is working on getting everything. They're not trying to withhold it."

A judge issued a gag order in January that prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking or writing about it.