Prosecutors to judge: Don't delay Kohberger's trial, but if you do, Kootenai County is better than Boise | Montana News

MOSCOW, Idaho – Prosecutors in the case of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, want the trial to take place in Moscow.

On Tuesday, the state filed a 20-page objection to the defense's motion to move the trial, refuting Kohberger's argument that Latah County was unable to appoint an impartial jury.

“The data by no means demonstrate that Latah County jurors were uniquely exposed to a 'totally corrupt' environment … but rather demonstrate that … coverage of this case throughout Idaho resulted in high recognition of the case among survey respondents in all four counties surveyed,” the state's motion states.

The dispute over the venue for the trial, currently scheduled for summer 2025, was one of the most contentious points during the pre-trial proceedings in the case.

To build its case, Kohberger's defense hired a litigation consulting firm to conduct a survey of potential jurors in Latah, Bannock, Canyon and Ada counties. The results of that study will form the basis of the defense's argument, which was laid out in a brief filed in July and is certain to be the basis of testimony at the Aug. 29 change of venue hearing.

With their motion on Tuesday, prosecutors sought to challenge that study and the broader arguments for delaying the trial.

Prosecutors argued that the survey results did not necessarily show what the defense claimed. For one thing, prosecutors said, the survey results did not provide information about nonresponses, which could obscure sampling bias.

Despite these concerns, the survey also found that Latah County residents, while more familiar with the case, scored the lowest on bias avoidance, raising doubts about whether these potential jurors would actually be disqualified.

The state also argued that the Latah County District Court did a good job of preventing the trial from becoming a “media circus,” unlike some of the cases cited by the defense.

“Here, the court scrupulously avoided such an environment,” prosecutors argued. “The court entered a non-disclosure order early in the case. This court has repeatedly taken precautions to avoid the circus-like environment described in (a case cited by the defense).”

Interestingly, prosecutors made a suggestion for an alternative venue should Latah County Judge John Judge decide to move the trial.

“If the court were to transfer venue, the State believes it would be more likely that a transfer of venue to a geographically closer county such as Nez Perce or Kootenai County (only

“Across the state line from Spokane International Airport) would be less cumbersome than moving the trial 300 miles south to Boise,” prosecutors argued.

Kohberger's change of venue hearing is scheduled for August 29.

The judge has not yet indicated whether he is inclined to adjourn the case and it is not clear whether he will make a final decision at the hearing.