MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho Supreme Court denied a pretrial appeal filed by Bryan Kohberger’s public defenders on Tuesday. The appeal questioned the validity of the indictment against Kohberger, who is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Although the court did not provide a reasoning for its denial, the ruling effectively closed the matter.
The crux of the defense’s argument was that Kohberger was improperly indicted on the charges. They claimed that prosecutors must meet a higher legal standard – guilt beyond a reasonable doubt – when presenting a case to the grand jury. The defense argued that the standard applied should have been probable cause instead. However, the court did not find merit in this argument.
Kohberger, a 29-year-old Pennsylvania criminology Ph.D. student, is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Prosecutors alleged that he entered an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and attacked the victims with a large knife. The murders, which shocked the country, took six weeks to be solved, with Kohberger eventually being apprehended at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.
The defense has been attempting to delay the proceedings, and earlier this year, Kohberger’s lead attorney requested the trial be pushed back until at least 2025. She cited the need for more time to complete discovery and interview witnesses. While the judge did not set a trial date at that time, they denied the request to dismiss the indictment against Kohberger.
If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty. While the trial was initially expected to last around six weeks, both the prosecution and the defense now anticipate it lasting 12 to 15 weeks. The judge has not yet set a start date for the trial.
The ruling from the Idaho Supreme Court marks a significant development in the high-profile case. With the denial of the appeal, the focus now shifts to the upcoming trial, where the evidence and arguments presented will determine Kohberger’s fate.