Bryan Kohberger’s defense team victory proves they are thinking 2 steps ahead & preparing for appeal, legal expert says

BRYAN Kohberger's defense team is thinking two steps ahead and preparing to appeal even before the trial begins, an expert has claimed to The U.S. Sun.

The alleged killer's defense team scored a big victory after a judge ruled in their favor to move the high-profile trial out of Latah County, where the murders happened.

Kohberger, 29, is facing four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.

The University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their beds at their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, in a crime that shook America.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said his team is pursuing the death penalty and Kohberger's team have filed many motions in recent months as they prepare for a huge court battle.

Former Los Angeles prosecutor Neama Rahmani gave The U.S. Sun his opinion on how the case is unfolding.

"Kohberger’s lawyers have filed motion after motion to create a record on appeal," Rahmani said.

"They know it’s difficult to get a death penalty-qualified panel not to convict. And if they do, the jury will likely recommend a death sentence for one of the most gruesome murders in Idaho state history.

"They also know it’s more likely to get a death sentence overturned on appeal than to actually get a not guilty verdict at trial.

"So these motions are more to create issues on appeal than to have any real chance of success at trial."

He went on to say he believes the defense strategy has been "aggressive."

"It is probably frustrating for the prosecution and the victims' families, who have been waiting years for justice for their murdered loved ones," he said.

"But the defense's job is to keep Kohberger alive, so if moving the venue increases that chance, they're doing their job as death penalty defense lawyers."

Rahmani said the change of venue is appropriate when a defendant can't get a fair and impartial jury pool in the current county, but he doesn't believe the defense has met that burden.

"They contacted prospective jurors and conducted a phone survey in violation of the court's order," he explained.

"As a practical matter too, everyone in the state of Idaho and the entire country has heard of the Idaho murders.

The defense's job is to keep Kohberger alive."

"There is no guarantee that the juror pool in another Idaho county would be any different."

Rahmani, president and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, explained family members of the victims would also be forced to travel to the trial and may have to pay for it themselves.

"There are statutory fees for witnesses, but they're not much," Rahmani said.

He said the judge took a cautious approach by moving the trial, likely to avoid an unnecessary appellate issue, which is a legal error that may have occurred in a lower court's proceedings.

University of Idaho murders timeline

On November 13, 2022, a brutal home invasion claimed the lives of four University of Idaho students.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, off-campus home.

A six-week manhunt ensued as cops searched for a suspect.

On December 28, 2022, Bryan Kohberger, 29, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania - 2,500 miles away from the crime scene.

He was taken into custody and has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, has been linked to the crime scene through phone records, his car's location, and DNA evidence found at the home where the murders took place.

The house was demolished in December 2023 despite backlash from the victims' families.

Kohberger is being held at Latah County Jail while he awaits trial.

On September 9, 2024, an Idaho judge ruled to move the upcoming murder trial out of Moscow after Kohberger's lawyer argued that the town was prejudiced against him.

The state Supreme Court will decide the new venue and judge for the trial, which is expected to start in June 2025.

"A larger courthouse also helps logistically because there will be significant media and public interest in the case," he said.

"This is the same reason why the court issued a very broad gag order in the case: to avoid potential problems with pre-trial publicity."

Judge John Judge called the venue change the most difficult decision of his career, as he sided with the defense after they presented data showing how often residents in the county were exposed to media coverage of Kohberger's case.

"Considering the undisputed evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the news coverage in this case, and the smaller population in Latah County, the defense has met the rather low standard of demonstrating 'a reasonable likelihood' that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County," the judge wrote.

"Thus, the Court will grant Kohberger's motion to change venue for presumed prejudice."

He also noted that the Latah County Courthouse is not big enough to accommodate the trial and that the county sheriff's office does not have enough deputies to handle security.

The new location was not immediately revealed in the ruling and will be decided by Idaho's highest court.

Kohbetger pleaded not guilty to all counts in May 2023 and his trial is expected to begin in June next year.