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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger defense suggests 'alternate perpetrators' in Idaho murders, joining infamous legal strategy
Bryan Kohberger's defense team brought up the possibility that there were "alternate perpetrators" involved in the quadruple murders during a hearing in early May, but Kohberger is hardly the first person to point the blame at other individuals. During a May 15 pretrial hearing, Judge Steven Hippler revealed that Kohberger's defense team made a filing that suggested an alternate suspect. Kohberger is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 13, 2022, deaths of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. While Hippler did not rule on whether he was going to allow Kohberger's defense team to present the "alternate perpetrators" theory during trial, he did ask for more evidence supporting their claim. Former federal prosecutor James Trusty told Fox News Digital the strategy isn't necessarily a "full-throated defense" but rather a strategy used to create reasonable doubt within the jury. Bryan Kohberger Defense Claims 'Alternate Perpetrators' In Idaho Student Murders "The problem is, a lot of times, it's really designed to be not a full-throated defense to say Mr. Smith was the one that committed the murder, but just to create reasonable doubt. It's keeping in mind that the standard is tilted in favor of the defendant appropriately. And so the idea is to not always go full-throated and say he absolutely did it, but to make a run at it, to play it out in front of the jury, let them kind of come to their own conclusion that there's at least some doubt as to who did it," Trusty said. Read On The Fox News App Here's a look at other criminal cases in which the suspects invoked an alternate perpetrator. O.J. Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, along with her friend, Ronald Goldman, on June 12, 1994. Simpson's defense team attempted to bring in the alternate perpetrators' theory when they suggested in 1995 that the murders were done by Colombian drug lords, according to the New York Times. Simpson's lawyer, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., said in court that Brown Simpson and Goldman weren't the intended targets of the murder, but he suggested that one of her friends, Faye Resnick, was the person that Colombian drug lords had planned to kill. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Cochran said the drug dealers wanted to kill Resnick over money she allegedly owed. Simpson was ultimately acquitted but said after the trial that he would keep working to find the person who killed his ex-wife and Goldman. "My first obligation is to my young children, who will be raised the way that Nicole and I had always planned. … But when things have settled a bit, I will pursue as my primary goal in life the killer or killers who slaughtered Nicole and Mr. Goldman. They are out there somewhere. Whatever it takes to identify them and bring them in, I will provide somehow," Simpson said. Oj Simpson Murder Trial: Suppressed Witness Testimony Casts Shadow Over Verdict Scott Peterson was found guilty in 2004 of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. Laci Peterson disappeared from the couple's Modesto, California, home on Christmas Eve in late 2002. A pedestrian found her unborn son's body, decomposed at the time, in San Francisco Bay in April 2003. During Peterson's 2004 trial, his attorney, Mark Geragos, claimed a burglary near the couple's home at the time of her disappearance might have been connected to her death, according to the New York Post. Peterson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X In April, the Los Angeles Innocence Project filed a petition that claimed 17 eyewitnesses who lived or worked in the Petersons' neighborhood "reported seeing a woman fitting Laci's description walking a dog in the neighborhood and nearby park" on the morning of Dec. 24, 2002, after Scott left for the day. Casey Anthony was accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008. Prosecutors alleged that Casey Anthony used duct tape as the murder weapon, claiming the mother covered her mouth and nose with it, which resulted in the child's death. Her body was found in a wooded area in Orange County, Florida. Anthony's defense lawyers claimed Caylee Anthony accidentally drowned while swimming in her grandparents' pool. 'Most Hated Mom' Casey Anthony Returns To National Spotlight After Acquittal In Daughter's Murder During the trial, Anthony's defense attorney, Jose Baez, argued that Caylee Anthony's father, George, covered up the drowning and sexually abused his daughter. George Anthony vehemently denied those accusations. Casey Anthony was acquitted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse, butshe was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement. Dr. Sam Sheppard was accused of killing his wife, Marilyn Sheppard, on July 4, 1954. According to Cleveland Historical, the family hosted a Fourth of July party. After the party, Sam Sheppard decided to go on a walk alone along a Lake Erie beach in Bay Village, Ohio. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub When he returned, Sam Sheppard discovered his wife's body "chopped up" on their bed. Bay Village police arrested him on a murder charge on July 30, 1954. He was found guilty at trial but maintained that a bushy-haired man was the individual who killed his wife. Sam Sheppard said he chased the man while he was fleeing their home. His conviction was overturned in 1966. Jeffrey MacDonald was accused of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters on Feb. 17, 1970, according to the News & Observer. Colette Stevenson MacDonald, 26, along with the couple's two daughters, Kimberley, 6, and Kristin, 2, were stabbed and beaten to death at their home located on the Fort Bragg Army base in North Carolina. Jeffrey MacDonald had several stab wounds. MacDonald allegedly told Army investigators at the time that his family was killed by a group of hippies, which included a woman in a floppy hat. The woman, according to MacDonald, chanted, "Acid is groovy, kill the pigs." MacDonald was indicted on three counts of murder by a federal grand jury in January 1975, but the trial didn't start until 1979. He was found guilty of first-degree murder for his wife's death and two second-degree murders for the deaths of his daughters. He was sentenced to three terms of life in prison. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Bryan Kohberger defense suggests 'alternate perpetrators' in Idaho murders, joining infamous legal strategy
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger case leak could lead to excluded evidence, Idaho attorney warns
An Idaho-based lawyer said she thinks Judge Steven Hippler will "absolutely" hold prosecutors and law enforcement accountable after sensitive information about the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder case was leaked. A TV episode about the murders of four University of Idaho students was aired on May 9 and featured new cellphone records, surveillance video, search records and more. Kohberger is accused of killing Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. New information about the murders was shared during the May 9 NBC "Dateline" program, which included surveillance video from a nearby house. The surveillance video showed a car similar to Kohberger's that was in the area of the King Road house several times just before the four students were killed. The program also claimed that FBI cellphone tower data showed that Kohberger's cellphone pinged nearly a dozen times to a tower that provides coverage to an area within 100 feet of 1122 King Road, where he allegedly killed the four students. Judge Says Gag Order 'Likely' Violated In Bryan Kohberger's Idaho Murder Case Edwina Elcox, a criminal defense attorney in Boise, Idaho, told Fox News Digital she thinks Hippler is taking the leak very seriously. Read On The Fox News App "I think prosecutors/law enforcement will absolutely be held accountable," Elcox said, noting she has worked on cases with Hippler as the judge. Elcox said she "absolutely" thinks it's possible for evidence presented during the TV episode to be excluded in court. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter "Can you imagine if the remedy for this was all that evidence being excluded?" Elcox said. "I ABSOLUTELY think that is in the realm of remedies." "Not only should it never have happened under any circumstances, there was the gag order," she added. Hippler said Thursday in an order that the court's gag order was "likely" violated by someone who, at one point, was associated with either law enforcement or the prosecution team. Judge Rules Death Penalty To Remain As Possible Punishment Amid Bryan Kohberger Autism Diagnosis Hippler ordered anyone who worked with either law enforcement or prosecutors on this case to retain all communications and data relating to the murder investigation. "Such violations not only undermine the rule of law, potentially by persons charged with upholding it, but also significantly impede the ability to seat an impartial jury and will likely substantially increase the cost to be borne by the taxpayers of Latah County to prosecute this case by extending the time it will take to seat a jury and potentially requiring lengthy period of juror sequestration," Hippler wrote. Hippler also said he's open to appointing a special prosecutor who'd investigate where the leak came from, but hasn't yet made a decision. He gave a seven-day deadline to prosecutors, who were ordered to submit a list, on camera, of all individuals within law enforcement and the prosecuting agencies that have access to the information shared during the episode. Idaho Statesman Investigative Reporter Kevin Fixler told Fox News' "America Reports" he was surprised when the "Dateline" episode aired. "I have been on this case since literally day one, and this was a surprise. A lot of this information that was released just two and a half months before trial. So we're trying to better understand where that came from," Fixler said. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X Forensic expert and Jacksonville State University Professor Joseph Scott Morgan told Fox News Digital there's a risk that the TV episode on Kohberger will taint the jury pool. "I think the first place you have to look is the tainting of the pool, of the jury pool," Morgan said. "Progressively, it becomes more and more difficult because people form opinions, they put things out there that are not true, and you still have yet to pick a jury. And it's not like you're going to Manhattan. You're talking about Ada County, Idaho. You have a limited pool of potential jurors there." "They need to find out who's inside that investigative bubble that would release all of this digital data because you're talking about a copious amount, not just a new video that we're seeing that had never been seen before," Morgan added. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub Morgan said the leak might have the biggest impact if Kohberger decides to file an appeal, after a jury hands down a decision. "Afterwards, if in fact [Kohberger] is found guilty, his attorneys are going to have a field day with stuff like this," he said. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital he doesn't think the leak will have much of an impact on the case. "People should follow court orders, but this is more bluster than anything and I don't think much will come of it. This is what happens when you have a very broad gag order and it takes 3.5 years to finally get a murder case to trial. It's not realistic to expect evidence not being leaked to the media for years in the biggest murder trial in the country," Rahmani article source: Bryan Kohberger case leak could lead to excluded evidence, Idaho attorney warns
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Kentucky ex-sheriff's 'frivolous' insanity claim won't fly in judge's suspected murder: former prosecutors
Two former prosecutors say that the insanity defense planned by the defense attorney representing former Letcher County, Kentucky, Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines will not hold up. Stines is accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge's chambers inside the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19, 2024, in an attack that was captured on surveillance video. "It's very rare in most states, including Kentucky, the insanity defense and similar mental health defenses rarely work, because if the person knows right from wrong at the time they committed some criminal act, then any mental health issues are, I guess, secondary," Phil Holloway, a former prosecutor and legal analyst based in Georgia, told Fox News Digital. "If they know right from wrong, they can still be convicted even if they have a mental health issue." 'Extremely Paranoid' Kentucky Sheriff Questioned By Police Moments After Judge's Fatal Shooting: Video Last week, Fox News Digital released video footage of a Kentucky State Police (KSP) investigator and two troopers questioning a paranoid Stines in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. "I leave this building, I won't draw another breath," Stines told KSP Investigator Clayton Stamper, who led the investigation. Read On The Fox News App "Y'all are gonna kill me, aren't you?" he asked at one point in the interview. "Y'all are gonna kill me, I know you are. Let's just get it over with. Let's just go." Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X Holloway said even if the sheriff was paranoid, he still knew that the killing was wrong. "If you look at the sheriff's video from his discussions with law enforcement in the hallway right after the shooting, the sheriff expresses that he's concerned that the police or some other unnamed third party might hurt him or kill him," Holloway said. Kentucky Sheriff Seen In Footage Shooting At Judge In Shocking Preliminary Hearing "And he's asking the cops, you know, he's even alleging that the police might stop en route to the jail to allow somebody else to do something. Now, those things might seem paranoid, and they may seem irrational, but at the same time, when he expresses those things to the officers, to me that indicates that he knows that killing is wrong. "It's interesting because he's telling the cop, he's telling the police not to do it. So, in a way, he's telegraphing that he knows right from wrong. And he knows that killing is wrong because he's asking the police to not kill him." Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Michael Wynne, a former prosecutor based in Houston, agrees with Holloway, especially given the surveillance footage from Mullins' chambers in the moments leading up to the shooting. "I think this is a frivolous defense," he told Fox News Digital. "The video shows he knows what he's doing is wrong. If you don't know what you're doing is wrong, you don't usher everybody else out of the room, and you don't go ahead and make sure the door is closed. Those are all things that show that he has an ability to make cognizant decisions." Kentucky Courthouse Where Sheriff Allegedly Killed Judge Plagued By Sex Abuse Allegations: Lawsuit Wynne said he believes the best Stines will be able to do is plead guilty to the charges in hopes of taking the death penalty off the table, or potentially being given an opportunity for parole. "Based on the facts, he will lose the case [and] there will be a guilty verdict," Wynne said. "Now, the jury and judge are not supposed to weigh the fact that the defense puts on a case here of insanity. But people are people. And, you know, he'll be punished by the judge and the jury for raising what I think this is a frivolous defense." According to Stines' attorney, Jeremy Bartley, his defense is closely tied to allegations of sexual abuse that plagued Letcher County authorities, including some in the courthouse. Three days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in a civil sexual assault case against his former deputy, Ben Shields, who was accused of sexually abusing a woman. Stines was also named for failing to supervise Fields. Motive Revealed In Kentucky Sheriff's Alleged Killing Of Judge As Body Language Expert Analyzes New Video Bartley declined to comment for this story but previously told Fox News Digital, "I think one of the big things is that my client felt there had been pressure placed on him not to say too much during the deposition, and not to talk about things that happened within the courthouse, particularly in the judge's chambers." Bartley said that threats against Stines' family caused the paranoia to reach a fever pitch. "On the day that this [shooting] happened, my client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter, and he firmly believed that they were in danger," Bartley said. "He believed that they were in danger because of what he knew to have happened within the courthouse. And there was pressure, and there were threats made to him to sort of keep him in line, to keep them from saying more than these folks wanted him to say."Original article source: Kentucky ex-sheriff's 'frivolous' insanity claim won't fly in judge's suspected murder: former prosecutors
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gov. Newsom doing 'political calculus' ahead of Menendez brothers resentencing decision
The Menendez brothers are one step closer to seeing life outside prison walls as they face the next hurdle, a parole board hearing, in their bid for release from the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills. Criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett of Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey in Austin, Texas, told Fox News Digital that the spotlight will now shift to the state Parole Board and Gov. Gavin Newsom. "There is no doubt that Newsom is doing some political calculus on this decision," he said. In Bassett's view, the Parole Board "will consider input from all interested persons, especially the victims' family members," weigh the results of the Comprehensive Risk Assessments (CRA), and require the brothers to demonstrate their remorse and acceptance of responsibility. Menendez Brothers Could Get Freedom Under California Law Signed By Gavin Newsom: Expert Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office, which referred to a news conference Wednesday in which he spoke briefly about the parole process for the Erik and Lyle Menendez and said the process is still unfolding. Read On The Fox News App "We started a process, as you know, which was intended to help inform the judge about the resentencing of the risk assessment. We thought that would be prudent to do before any resentencing," he said. "That process has unfolded over the course of the last number of months, and forensic psychologists did an assessment of the risk of each individual brother." Certain details of those risk assessments, which have not been made public, were presented during part of Tuesday's resentencing hearing. The analysis from those reports typically includes what led a person to commit the crime, behavior in prison and the likelihood of recidivism. Both brothers admitted to killing their parents, Mary "Kitty" and José Menendez, in a gruesome 1989 shotgun massacre inside their Beverly Hills home. Until Tuesday's resentencing hearing, they had maintained that their actions were self-defense from a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse by their parents. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Colorado-based criminal defense attorney Eric Faddis outlined the technical hurdles that the Menendez brothers must clear before the Board can begin to review their cases. California Gov Newsom Sets Menendez Brothers Parole Board Hearing Date In Bid For Clemency Thanks to the brothers' recent resentencing under California's youthful offender law, Erik and Lyle are now eligible for parole "because the crimes were committed before the brothers were 26," Faddis told Fox News Digital. Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21 when they murdered their parents. "There are no other eligibility requirements the brothers have to meet," he said, meaning the parole board "can now consider whether release is appropriate." Faddis echoed Bassett's comments that the board will weigh "the seriousness of the crime," any prior criminal history, participation in rehabilitation programs, signs of remorse, and the prospect of a stable living situation upon release. "In this case, all living family members of the victims are in support of release," he said. "The board may consider any positive contributions to society the brothers made while incarcerated, which include advocating for child sex abuse survivors." When asked how the gravity of a double homicide factors into decisions, even decades later, Faddis said: "A double homicide is about as serious as it gets." He acknowledged that while the alleged abuse by the father may temper the assessment of the father's killing, "it does not have the same mitigating effect with respect to the mother's murder." Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X Faddis predicted that a recent statutory change may benefit the brothers' bid for release. Under Penal Code § 4801, the Parole Board must now expressly consider "whether the crime resulted from the inmate's victimization," he said. Get The Latest From The Fox News True Crime Hub "Many believe that such prior abuse is given much more weight now than it was in the 1990s, both legally and socially," he said. The brothers are set to appear before the Parole Board via video on June 13, 2025, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. The board will either recommend or veto the brothers' release. Newsom has the final say over whether they should go article source: Gov. Newsom doing 'political calculus' ahead of Menendez brothers resentencing decision
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Menendez brothers' June hearing converted from clemency to parole as decision looms for Gov. Newsom
The Menendez brothers' path to freedom took another turn as California Gov. Gavin Newsom has withdrawn his request for a clemency investigation. This move now makes the brothers' June hearing before the parole board a chance for Lyle and Erik to be granted an early release. Newsom's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that the June 13 clemency hearing is now being converted into a parole hearing. The governor's office added that Newsom agrees with the Board of Parole Hearings' recommendation to convert the June 13 clemency hearings to parole hearings, saying that "the clemency application is still considered active." Menendez Brothers' Freedom In Hands Of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation echoed Newsom's office and told Fox News Digital that it is converting the June 13 clemency hearings into "initial parole suitability hearings." Read On The Fox News App "The Board is providing parties an opportunity to raise objections to this change," the department said. Lyle Menendez also commented on the move, saying that the "situation is fluid." "I told you all things were fluid. And it was just announced and I can confirm that the Governor has withdrawn his request for clemency investigation and will no longer be entertaining that scenario," Lyle wrote in post on his Facebook page. "June 13 will be a parole board hearing." Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X "I will say what I have always said. It is very rare for an incarcerated person to be granted parole on their first try. But we move onward," he continued. In a bombshell decision on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic slashed the Menendez brothers' original life-without-parole terms to 50 years-to-life, making Erik and Lyle eligible for parole. "I'm not suggesting they should be released [on parole]. That's not for me to decide," he said. Jesic's decision to resentence the Menendez brothers opens the door for a parole hearing to determine whether they should be released. Menendez Brothers Resentencing: Timeline Of Killers' Fight Over Freedom In Parents' Murders Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the brutal 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, José and Mary "Kitty" Menendez. After two high-profile trials, both brothers received life sentences without the possibility of parole. The brothers have spent 35 years behind bars. In October, Mark Geragos, the brothers' lawyer, filed clemency documents with Newsom after former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge to reduce their sentences. SIGN UP TO GET True Crime Newsletter "I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole," Gascón previously said. "They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates." In response to their request for clemency, Newsom directed the state parole board to conduct a "comprehensive risk assessment investigation" of the Menendez brothers. Menendez Brothers Ask California Gov. Newsom For Clemency Newsom described the assessment as a "common procedure carried out by the state." "There's no guarantee of outcome here," Newsom previously said. "My office conducts dozens and dozens of these clemency reviews on a consistent basis, but this process simply provides more transparency, which I think is important in this case, as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency." Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office, which referred to a news conference Wednesday in which he spoke briefly about the parole process for the Menendez brothers and said the process is still unfolding. Get The Latest From The Fox News True Crime Hub "We started a process, as you know, which was intended to help inform the judge in the resentencing of the risk assessment. We thought that would be prudent to do before any resentencing. That process has unfolded over the course of the last number of months, and forensic psychologists did an assessment of the risk of each individual brother," Newsom said. Newsom's office explained that the legal standard in California for release on parole is whether an inmate poses an unreasonable risk to public safety, which has to be determined before the governor can make a decision on commutations. "This process doesn't mean there's any guaranteed outcome, but it shows we're doing our due diligence, ensuring transparency, keeping public safety at the forefront, making sure the process is fair for everyone involved and getting closer to a conclusion," Newsom's office said. Newsom's June 13 parole board hearings are planned to go on as scheduled, and the board will have the opportunity to free the brothers. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Erik and Lyle Menendez "will likely be freed in a matter of months," adding that he does not expect "the parole board or Gov. Newsom" to block their release. Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this article source: Menendez brothers' June hearing converted from clemency to parole as decision looms for Gov. Newsom
