During a recent court appearance, the attorney representing Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four students at the University of Idaho in November 2022, said that prosecutors were withholding information from the defense team.
As Kohberger's lead attorney Anne Taylor argued that two upcoming hearings, set for May 14 and 16, should be made public, she said that Latah County prosecutors have not provided a full video that allegedly shows Kohberger's vehicle by the residence where the four students were killed. Taylor said that the defense has only "received parts of" the video, which is described in the probable cause affidavit that was used to arrest Kohberger, and said that the video did not have sound.
"This is the video that they say places this car near the residence. We're received little tiny pieces of that and we think Bryan's right to a fair trial means the public needs to know that they've withheld the audio from a great portion of that and that it starts a long time before the little clip that we received," Taylor said, also accusing prosecutors of keeping the defense "in a vacuum to try to control the narrative."
Taylor also argued that Kohberger's case should continue to be made public. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ashley Jennings said in a rebuttal that while the trial would be public, not all hearings should be conducted in an open forum because of the information being discussed. Three previous hearings have been public.
"I would note for the record, we had one (public) hearing regarding motions to compel ... We discussed one request and it had to do with training records. That's not what we're contemplating discussing at this hearing on the 14th," Jennings said.
According to CBS affiliate KREM, the upcoming hearings will "primarily address the potential relocation of Kohberger's trial away from Latah County." Kohberger's lawyers have previously said that "inflammatory" publicity would make it impossible for him to have a fair trial.
Overseeing judge John Judge ruled that the upcoming hearings will be closed.
The family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the students who was killed, said in a statement that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system.
"This banter has been going on for 17 months. Then once you get a hearing, you have a hearing about the decision that was made at that hearing before the last hearing and there needs to be another hearing," the family said in a statement. "This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions."
A trial date for Kohberger, who waived his right to a speedy trial in August 2024, has not yet been determined.
He has been in custody in Latah County Jail since May 2023.
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