Judge OKs phone surveys of jury pool for man charged in 4 University of Idaho student deaths
BOISE, Idaho– Lawyers for a man charged in the deaths of four University of Idaho students can resume telephone surveys of potential jurors in the case, a judge has ruled.
Bryan Kohberger faces four murder charges in connection with the November 2022 deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. A judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf and prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
Kohberger’s defense team hired a consultant to interview potential jurors who lived near the university about what they might have seen, heard or read about the case. The telephone survey included questions about Kohberger’s arrest, the type of car he owns, DNA evidence and a knife shell found near one of the bodies. It also included questions about whether the person surveyed had watched true crime shows about the case or anything else he or she might have heard.
When prosecutors became aware of the investigation earlier this year, they asked 2nd District Judge John Judge to order the defense team to stand down, arguing that the investigations violated a blanket gag order the judge had in the case issued. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said some of the questions could prejudice people who could be called to serve as jurors if the case goes to trial.
In a ruling Friday, the judge said the surveys could continue as long as the questions did not violate his gag order. Most of the questions contained information that was already publicly available through court documents, the judge wrote in the ruling, and therefore did not violate the order.
Other questions about rumors people may have heard or crime documentaries they may have seen about the case were not part of the public record when the surveys began, but have since been debated and debated in open court – meaning they are now . part of the public record and could be included in future investigations, Judge said.
The bodies of the four University of Idaho students were found on November 13, 2022, in a rental house near campus. Police arrested Kohberger, 29, and then a graduate student at nearby Washington State University, more than six weeks later at his parents’ home. in eastern Pennsylvania, where he had gone for winter break.