The judge in the Bryan Kohberger murder case has ruled that the death penalty will remain on the table as the case moves forward, rejecting a request from Kohberger’s defense attorneys.
In June 2023, prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty against the former Ph.D. student accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 – in November 2022.
Bryan Kohberger, accused of murder, arrives for a hearing on camera in the courtroom of Latah County District Court, September 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho.
Ted S. Warren/Pool/Getty Images
Last September, Kohberger’s lawyers went to great lengths to get the death sentence overturned, arguing — in hundreds of pages of court filings — that Kohberger’s life should not be at stake because, among other things, the death penalty would violate his rights. constitutional rights as well as contemporary standards of decency.
However, in a lengthy filing Wednesday, Judge Steven Hippler ruled against Kohberger’s twelve motions challenging various aspects of Idaho’s capital punishment system.
In his 55-page decision, Justice Hippler “concludes [Kohberger’s] no favors are warranted on any of the motions.
Among other things, defense attorneys argued that the death penalty was out of step with current social mores. However, the judge found that “there is no reason to depart from established law confirming that Idaho’s death penalty statute is constitutional,” and that it remains “consistent with the contemporary standards of decency.”
Defense attorneys also argued that the death sentence should be imposed in this case based on the methods of execution – specifically citing the shortage of lethal injection drugs and arguing that executions by firing squad which, last year, became legal in Idaho are “cruel and unusual.” “And, they argued, leaving their client to wait on death row without knowing “how he will be executed” is itself an “unconstitutional” form of torment.
But the judge strongly disagreed, siding with prosecutors that that argument “is not ripe” for discussion because Kohberger has not yet been sentenced. And, the judge continued, while it was appropriate to talk about it now, the firing squad and lethal injection have been found to be constitutional and are permitted in the state.
The judge also ruled against each of the defense’s attempts to remove the aggravating factors prosecutors considered, making Kohberger eligible for the death penalty.
Kohberger was arrested following a six-week manhunt in December 2022.
A criminology student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
The trial is scheduled for August 2025.
