Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger, a criminology doctoral student accused of killing four University of Idaho students during a 4 a.m. home invasion, have asked the new judge in his case to let him wear “street clothes” instead of a prison jumpsuit to court.
After making his first appearances in an orange Latah County Jail uniform in January 2023, Kohberger has worn suits to court.
Now that the proceedings have been moved to Ada County following a successful motion for a change of venue, her defense is asking the new judge, Steven Hippler, to allow her to continue dressing, which court documents say would protect her right to a fair trial.
NEW IDAHO JUDGE IN BRYAN KOHBERGER TRIAL NO STRANGER TO BRUTAL MURDER CASES
Bryan Kohberger is driven to an Ada County Sheriff’s vehicle at the Boise Airport in Idaho on Sunday, September 15, 2024. The trial of the suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students has been moved from Latah County to Ada County. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“Allowing Mr. Kohberger to wear street clothes to all public hearings is one way to reduce the risk of prejudice,” defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote.
Taylor cited a 1976 Supreme Court decision that said forcing a defendant to wear a prison uniform to court could negatively impact the person’s presumption of innocence.
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The same defense team also successfully had television cameras removed from the proceedings, severely limiting the media’s ability to photograph their client, regardless of his attire.
She also criticized media coverage of her client’s new mug shot, taken last week after he was transferred to Ada County custody.
Bryan Kohberger is now in the custody of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, where he will be tried on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. (Ada County Sheriff’s Office)
Kohberger, 29, was studying for a doctorate in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., at the time of the killings. The school is just a 10-minute drive from the crime scene, on the edge of the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, Idaho, just across the border.
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Kohberger is accused of entering an off-campus rental house around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and slaughtering four students inside with a large knife.
The victims were Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other roommates in Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
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Police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s body, which contained Kohberger’s DNA, according to court documents. Investigators also said phone data and surveillance video placed Kohberger in the victims’ neighborhood at the time of the killings.
His defense countered in court that he had gone out for a drive “as he often did to hike, run and/or see the moon and stars.”
Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, has previously criticized Kohberger’s ability to dress in court, which he said is just one of a series of “unprecedented” pretrial privileges afforded the defendant in Latah County.
BRYAN KOHBERGER’S DEFENSE CITES IDAHO CITY’S ‘BAD MOB MENTALITY’ FOR VENUE CHANGE
Last year, Goncalves told Fox News Digital that he tried to find out who paid for the lawsuits and obtain other information about the defense budget through a public records request but was denied under a gag order on the case.
“They don’t want to tell us,” he said. “But I witnessed the moment they agreed not to handcuff him in court.”
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Kohberger faces four counts first degree murder and another for criminal burglary.
He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The defense is trying to get it removed from the table.
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A judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf at his arraignment in May 2023. The trial has already been delayed and is scheduled to begin in June 2025.
