Bryan Kohberger 'Laying Groundwork' For Motion To Dismiss—Attorney

A request by lawyers for Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the University of Idaho murders, to pause legal proceedings to evaluate whether the grand jury that indicted the 28-year-old was biased is laying the groundwork for his lawyer to file a motion to dismiss the case, a legal expert said.

Kohberger, a Ph.D. student at Washington State University's Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, is accused of breaking in to an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 and stabbing to death four University of Idaho students: Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

Kohberger was indicted by a secret grand jury enrolled by the state of Idaho on May 16 on four counts of first-degree murder and a single count of burglary.

Kohberger declined to enter a plea at a court hearing in May, prompting the judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. Soon after his arrest, his former attorney said Kohberger was "eager to be exonerated."

Earlier this week, his lawyers filed court documents indicating that he might challenge the indictment, alleging the grand jury was biased against him.

Kohberger's lawyers argue that the audio recordings and partial transcripts received by the grand jury for review do not include "exculpatory evidence" that they are certain exist and would clear him of all charges.

They are now requesting that the court forces the state to turn over all grand jury proceedings for review, arguing that during the six months of intense media coverage of the University of Idaho murders, it's possible that members of the jury had formed their own opinion on the case.

"A grand jury was empaneled at a time when the small community of Moscow, Idaho had been exposed to 6 months of intense local, national, and international media coverage," documents submitted by Kohberger's defense read. "Because the state has provided extensive discovery, Mr. Kohberger knows that exculpatory evidence exists. Whether a fair and impartial panel of grand jurors was assembled amidst intense media coverage is a significant question the Defense must evaluate."

Essentially, Kohberger's lawyers are asking to review all documents which the grand jury had access to and potentially toss out their indictment, and to have more time to prepare their defense, especially as the charges against the 28-year-old could carry the death penalty.

Criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, whose clients have included Michael Jackson, told NewsNation on Thursday night that the challenge to the grand jury process and the indictment is "not so much a trick" as an attempt from Kohberger's lawyers to set "up a situation."

"When you have a grand jury, in most jurisdictions [...] you have to give the defense the opportunity to present exculpatory evidence, if you will, once you know the grand jury is happening," he said.

"The challenge to exculpatory evidence, what I think the argument—they're laying the groundwork to the argument—is that 'Hey, we know there's exculpatory evidence, we didn't get a chance to present that, that is our right, even though it's a secret proceeding."

Geragos added that Kohberger's lawyer Anne Taylor is "laying the groundwork for a motion to dismiss, and what she's asking for, 'Pause this thing, we want to time out basically, so we can assemble the information that we would have presented to the grand jury."