Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger plans to contest indictment: court docs
Bryan Kohberger is planning to contest his grand jury indictment in the grisly murders of four University of Idaho students last year.
Kootenai County public defender Anne Taylor, who is representing Kohberger in the high-profile case, filed a motion Wednesday to halt court proceedings “while the matter of the grand jury record is argued and prepared,” the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.
“[Kohberger] is exercising due diligence to discover the grounds upon which to file a motion to dismiss related to how the grand jury was selected,” Taylor wrote.
The attorney cited Idaho law that allows defendants to challenge a jury if it was improperly formed, according to KHQ-TV.
Taylor also stated that the suspect remained silent at his May 22 arraignment to preserve his right to contest the indictment.
In addition, the filing alleged that her team has not had sufficient time to review all the evidence in the case, and requested more time to produce Kohberger’s notice of alibi.
Late last month, Kohberger’s attorneys requested that the court release all the grand jury materials and records of their proceedings. A hearing on the issue is set for June 27.
Kohberger, 28, was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home on Dec. 30 for the Nov. 13 stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
The former criminology student was indicted on charges of felony burglary and four counts of first-degree murder on May 17.
At the arraignment in Latah County a few days later, Taylor told the court that her client was “standing silent.”
The attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Kohberger’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 2. Stacy Chapin, the mother of victim Ethan Chapin, already shared that her family will not attend the proceedings.
“[The trial] does not change the outcome of our family and it’s energy that we need to put into healing our kids and getting back to a new family dynamic,” she told NBC’s “Today” of the decision.
