Prosecutor pushes back against Kohberger's arguments
Mar. 26—The Latah County Prosecutor's Office is again pushing back against Bryan Kohberger's alibi and "alternative perpetrators" defense, and says the suspect's family members may be called to testify at his upcoming trial.
More court filings were released Tuesday in the Kohberger case. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the Nov. 13, 2022, stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
The prosecution argues that Kohberger does not have the same rights as the victims' families to choose which of his relatives can sit in the courthouse during the trial.
"The defendant has a constitutional and statutory right to a 'public trial,' but that does not extend to Defendant's choosing whom sits in the courtroom," Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ashley Jennings wrote in her court filing.
She said the Idaho Constitution and Idaho Code supports this argument.
She added that Kohberger's relatives may be called to testify as witnesses. She asked Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler to exclude them from the courtroom until it is their time to testify so they cannot hear the other witnesses' testimony.
Kohberger's attorneys argued that his immediate family consisting of his mother, father and two sisters should be present in the courtroom.
The prosecution's witness list is due to be completed by April 21.
The prosecution reasserts that Kohberger does not have any witnesses to back up his alibi. Kohberger has acknowledged that he was driving around the time of the murders, but not near the crime scene.
Kohberger's attorneys planned to call Sy Ray to testify to his opinion about where Kohberger was during those early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Ray is an expert in cell towers and cell phone data. The defense claims Ray can show Kohberger's device was south of Pullman and west of Moscow during the time of the murders.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson wrote that this is not enough to support Kohberger's alibi.
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