Will Bryan Kohberger's Defense Negotiate Plea Bargain? Lawyers Weigh In

The defense team working for the University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger could be "actively considering and negotiating a plea bargain" in the next stages of the judicial process, a criminal defense attorney told Newsweek.

Kohberger is accused of the killings of four college students, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, whose bodies were discovered in a rented house in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13. Kohberger has maintained his innocence and said through his public defense attorney, Jason LaBar, that he is "eager to be exonerated" and was "looking forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible."

The 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant at Washington State University was arrested by law enforcement at his family's home in Pennsylvania on December 30. After waiving his extradition rights, he was transported to Latah County Jail, then made his first court appearance in the small Idaho city.

Upon arriving back in the state, he was booked for four counts of murder in the first degree, and one count of felony burglary.

After his initial appearance in front of the judge on January 5, Kohberger once again entered the courtroom in Idaho on January 12. Kohberger consented to waive his right to a speedy trial, and his preliminary hearing date was set for June 26.

The six-month wait "extends the entire process," Todd Spodek, the managing partner at Spodek Law Group, told Newsweek. Ahead of Kohberger's trip back into the Latah County courtroom for the preliminary hearing, a grand jury and the discovery phase will likely come among other motions, Spodek added.

"Simultaneously to all of this, Bryan's defense team may be actively considering and negotiating a plea bargain," Spodek, who famously represented convicted con artist Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, said.

However, criminal defense attorney Duncan Levin suggested that although a plea deal "is always something important for the defense to consider," it is not always an option open to the lawyers piecing together a defense.

"Here, it's most definitely not something that is available to the defense, at least not yet," Levin, the managing partner of Levin & Associates told Newsweek on Tuesday.

If a defendant stares down the death penalty, the type of plea deal they are likely to be offered is life in prison, said Levin. However, "that is a pretty unpalatable plea offer unless the defense can get comfortable that an acquittal is definitely not in the cards."

"It's far too early in the life cycle of this criminal case for the prosecution to extend an offer like that," Levin said. The offer may not ever come, he added, if the prosecution deem capital punishment to be "the only appropriate outcome."

"On the defense side, it's too early to consider a guilty plea before they have the opportunity to inspect the forensic discovery and see if they can develop any substantive defenses. If nothing veers it off course, the case appears to be headed to a trial," Levin said.

Newsweek reached out to Kohberger's public defender, Anne Taylor for comment.