logo
How Bryan Kohberger's notoriously mum defense attorney is using the media to her advantage

How Bryan Kohberger's notoriously mum defense attorney is using the media to her advantage

Yahoo2 days ago

Bryan Kohberger's lead defense attorney Anne Taylor may be avoiding news cameras, but she has shown she is able to use widespread attention to the case to her advantage in her courtroom maneuvering.
Even before Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the first gag order in the case, Taylor declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Since then, she has declined to respond to additional requests for comment.
"It is unusual for defense counsel to avoid trying to grab the spotlight and possibly influence public opinion via press conferences, but there's more than one way to skin a cat," said Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based litigator and media analyst.
Bryan Kohberger Case Leak Could Lead To Excluded Evidence, Idaho Attorney Warns
In Kohberger's case, convincing evidence has already been made public — including the allegation that police found his DNA on a Ka-Bar knife sheath under 21-year-old Madison Mogen, one of the four victims, and surveillance video of a suspected vehicle coming and going at the crime scene.
"You've got the car circling the victim's house," Oakes told Fox News Digital. "You've got the DNA. You've got the cell phone records. The strategy instead is to go kind of a technical route and question the science of the DNA and also to argue autism by the criminal defendant. That's a key factor, and that's not the kind of thing you necessarily go public with."
Read On The Fox News App
Taylor used unflattering depictions of her client to have news cameras thrown out of the courtroom and to secure a change of venue, which moved Kohberger's upcoming trial out of Latah County, where the students were killed, to Boise.
Idaho Judge Denies Bryan Kohberger Defense Motion To Suppress Key Evidence
Defense filings have highlighted widespread news coverage, as well as social media discussions involving thousands of web sleuths and true crime followers.
More recently, Taylor is arguing that two major media projects — a "Dateline" episode and a forthcoming book from bestselling crime author James Patterson and crime reporter Vicky Ward — should justify another postponement of her client's trial in the deaths of four University of Idaho students.
In particular, she claims the May 9 "Dateline" episode contains damning material that could put Kohberger's right to a fair trial at risk.
Judge Says Gag Order 'Likely' Violated In Bryan Kohberger's Idaho Murder Case
"The program includes details and materials, including video footage, cellphone records, and photographs of documents, that are not publicly available through official channels," she wrote in a motion to continue filed on May 20. "The show repeatedly emphasizes the non-public nature of this information, stating it was obtained from unnamed sources who are close to the investigation, and that the materials were obtained exclusively by 'Dateline.'"
Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter
Some of it will be inadmissible at trial, she added.
Furthermore, she asserted that "the leaked materials appear carefully curated to promote a narrative of guilt."
"The defense strategy of delay and moving the trial is working beautifully," Oakes said. "She was able to change the venue. She gets some postponements, and now she wants further postponement."
If she gets it, there are two key factors that would benefit the defense, he added.
Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X
"No. 1, give her time to come up with something to overcome this amazingly strong physical evidence against him, and also maybe diminish the public anger," he said. "As the months and the years go by, people will forget how horrific the crime was, and maybe give her a better chance to get a good result at trial."
"They are trying to keep it out of the court of public opinion," said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney and former prosecutor who is following the case. "How do you do that? Stay away from media."
GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub
However, that is tough in a case where many updates receive international attention.
Kohberger is accused of killing Mogen, two roommates and another friend in a 4 a.m. home-invasion stabbing spree. There is no publicly known motive, but a concerning detail is that he was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at the time of the murders.
The other victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Criminology and Justice studies, said Taylor could consider trying to "humanize" her client — but anything else could be dangerous for the defense.
"That case sends a chill down the spine of every professor in a school of criminology in the United States," he told Fox News Digital.Original article source: How Bryan Kohberger's notoriously mum defense attorney is using the media to her advantage

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content
Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content

Yahoo

time33 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The majority of justices on Brazil's Supreme Court have agreed to make social media companies liable for illegal postings by their users, in a landmark case for Latin America with implications for U.S. relations. Brazil's top court decided to rule on two different cases to reach an understanding on how to deal with social media companies as reports of fraud, child pornography and violence among teenagers become rampant online. Critics warn such measures could threaten free speech as platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic. Gilmar Mendes on Wednesday became the sixth of the court's 11 justices to vote to open a path for companies like Meta, X and Microsoft to be sued and pay fines for content published by their users. Voting is ongoing but a simple majority is all that is needed for the measure to pass. The ruling will come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of possible visa restrictions against foreign officials allegedly involved in censoring American citizens. One such official reportedly is Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has taken measures against social media outlets he deemed to have not complied with Brazilian law. The only dissenting Brazilian justice so far is André Mendonça and his vote was made public last week. The court is yet to decide how such regulations will be enacted. Mendonça said free speech on social media is key for the publication of information that "holds powerful public institutions to account, including governments, political elites and digital platforms.' Justice Flávio Dino, the first to vote on Wednesday, reminded his colleagues that recent cases of school shootings in Brazil were stimulated on social media. He read out postings by one user who said he was happy by watching families of dead children 'weeping, bleeding, dying.' 'I think social media has not made humanity closer to what it has produced in best fashion,' he said. The social media proposal would become law once voting is finished and the result is published. But Brazil's Congress could still pass another law to reverse the measure. The current legislation states social media companies can only be held responsible if they do not remove hazardous content after a court order. Public debate on regulating social networks increased in Brazil in the aftermath of the Jan. 8 riot in 2023, when supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia. Platforms need to be pro-active in regulating content, said Alvaro Palma de Jorge, a law professor at the Rio-based Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank and university. 'They need to adopt certain precautions that are not compatible with simply waiting for a judge to eventually issue a decision ordering the removal of that content,' Palma de Jorge said. Wednesday's ruling brings Brazil's approach to big tech closer to the European Union's approach, which has sought to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms. Rendering platforms automatically accountable for content on their platforms may infringe freedom of speech as they could resort to preemptively removing content, according to the Sao-Paulo based Brazilian Chamber of Digital Economy, an organization that represents sectors of the digital economy. 'This type of liability favors large companies with robust legal structures, to the detriment of smaller, national players, which negatively impacts competition,' said the organization, adding that the decision may increase barriers to innovation. ___ Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.

Stephen Miller Explicitly Ordered ICE Raid Home Depots
Stephen Miller Explicitly Ordered ICE Raid Home Depots

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Stephen Miller Explicitly Ordered ICE Raid Home Depots

Stephen Miller explicitly ordered ICE to target Home Depot parking lots to arrest undocumented day laborers, a report alleges. The White House deputy chief of staff gave the order in late May, gloating in a meeting that he could leave ICE's D.C. headquarters and arrest 30 people outside the nearest Home Depot, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Miller, 39, is also said to have reminded top immigration officials they are not just targeting the 'worst of the worst' criminals, but anybody who is in the country illegally—even if that is their only alleged wrongdoing. 'Just go out there and arrest illegal aliens,' he said, according to the Journal. ICE officials appear to have heeded the White House's call. The Journal reported that ICE conducted an immigration sweep at a Home Depot on Friday in a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Los Angeles. The raid was among those that spurred widespread anti-ICE demonstrations and occasional riots in the city, which escalated after President Donald Trump activated the National Guard and deployed Marines against the wishes of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Day laborers are known to use Home Depot parking lots to find work at locations across the country, often waving down contractors or homeowners as they exit the home improvement store. Home Depot has acknowledged the practice, but does not explicitly allow it. Some stores feature signage to make clear that soliciting work is illegal in their parking lots. MAGA influencers have seized on this practice by migrants and are now encouraging ICE to continue targeting Home Depot parking lots. 'I'd like to report the front entrance of @HomeDepot at 5 am,' said Laura Loomer on Wednesday, responding to a promotion for the Department of Homeland Security's tip line to report undocumented immigrants. 'Location: Every Home Depot in the U.S.' Recent Home Depot raids have occurred at a minimum of seven locations in California, according to the Journal, The Guardian, and NBC Los Angeles. This appears to have workers skiddish about finding work in their go-to spot. Martha Arévalo, the executive director of the Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles, told the Journal that Home Depot parking lots in Southern California, once filled with hundreds of willing workers, have dwindled down to a 'handful.' Home Depot spokeswoman Beth Marlowe told the Daily Beast that the Atlanta-based corporation is not working in conjunction with ICE and that it does not receive any advance notice of raids at or near its locations. 'We tell associates to report [raids] immediately and not to engage with the activity for their safety,' she said. 'If associates feel uncomfortable after witnessing ICE activity, we offer them the option to go home for the rest of the day, with pay.' ICE did not respond to emails from the Daily Beast. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Beast in a statement, 'If you are present in the United States illegally, you will be deported. This is the promise President Trump made to the American people, and the administration is committed to keeping it.' Miller has reportedly orchestrated the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. In the same meeting he reportedly ordered ICE to target Home Depot locations, he also allegedly threatened to terminate officials if their arrest numbers did not rise significantly. Miller told ICE it needed an arrest total at or near 3,000 migrants per day. A plan, dubbed 'Operation At Large,' was implemented shortly after. It saw thousands of federal law enforcement officers and special forces, who don't typically assist with immigration, being activated to help ICE round up migrants accused of being in the country illegally. This supercharging of arrests resulted in several notable mishaps. That included ICE briefly detaining a U.S. Marshal in Arizona by mistake last week.

Homeland Security Says Video Shows ‘Targeted Arrest,' Not Hit and Run
Homeland Security Says Video Shows ‘Targeted Arrest,' Not Hit and Run

New York Times

timean hour ago

  • New York Times

Homeland Security Says Video Shows ‘Targeted Arrest,' Not Hit and Run

Federal agents used their unmarked vehicles to pin a car on Wednesday in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles and drew their weapons to make an arrest, prompting angry reactions as video showing the encounter spread quickly on social media. The Los Angeles Police Department initially said officers were investigating the incident near downtown as a possible assault or hit and run. But several hours later, the Department of Homeland Security said on social media that the episode was 'no hit and run.' 'This was a targeted arrest of a violent rioter' who had punched a Customs and Border Protection officer and tried to flee from agents, the department posted on X. It named the person who had been arrested but did not provide charging documents or other evidence. Video of the crash shows two unmarked vehicles — a truck and an S.U.V. — colliding with a white sedan at an intersection. Smoke can be seen behind the sedan as agents immediately exit their vehicles with weapons drawn. The sedan's driver steps out with his hands raised. In another video, apparently recorded moments later, a woman holding a child beside the sedan can be seen asking an agent for the agent's name and badge number. The agent closes the passenger door of the S.U.V., which can be seen leaving the intersection. A press officer for the department did not immediately respond to a request for more details. On social media, the agency said: 'You will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store