Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the Idaho student murders, has requested a change of venue for his trial due to extensive pretrial publicity, small community bias, and the sensational nature of the alleged crimes.
The defense argues that a fair and impartial jury cannot be found in the current location.
The case has involved numerous procedural attempts to delay or dismiss the trial, including a recent request to postpone until 2025.
“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County owing to the extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations made about Mr. Kohberger to the public by media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges Mr. Kohberger faces,” lead defense attorney Anne Taylor said.
The prosecutor opposed the change of venue, citing global attention and media coverage.
“Enlarging the jury pool will not do anything to overcome that pervasive prejudicial publicity because Latah County does not have a large enough population center to avoid the bias in the community,” Taylor wrote.
“Further, the size of the community and the interconnectedness of its citizenry is problematic and will prevent a fair and impartial pool of potential jurors.”
“If I was his attorney I would do the same thing, and I would have done it a while ago,” defense attorney David Gelman said. “Forty thousand people is not a lot of people. Problem is, they are in a state that doesn’t have a lot of people to begin with, and this case has caught such national publicity that they will make that argument even if it’s in a densely populated area.”
“This was to be expected, 100%,” defense attorney Edwina Elcox said.
“What is remarkable is that the prosecution has already mounted an opposition to this motion by the comments made in court,” she said. “A change in venue seems entirely appropriate in this case.”
The murders, which occurred in November 2022, shocked the country, and the trial could potentially result in the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
