MOSCOW, Idaho — The defense team for accused quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger is asking for his trial to be moved out of Latah County, calling the atmosphere "utterly corrupted."
The defense argues publicity of the case of four murdered University of Idaho students has been "pervasive, inflammatory, often inaccurate and highly prejudicial." They also claim the jury pool is too small in the county.
Former Idaho Attorney General Dave Leroy says the legal standard to change a trial venue is not just how well-known a case is.
"The test here is Idaho Criminal Rule 21 and that is a test of: Can a fair and impartial trial be had in Latah County?" he said.
In its motion to change the venue, the defense team said it surveyed Latah County adults; the analysis showed citizens 18 and older "are biased and have knowledge of information that is inflammatory, misleading and/or false about this case."
A Community Attitude Survey shows that "case recognition is 98%. Seventy percent of those recognizing the case have already formed an opinion regarding Mr. Kohberger; their opinion is that he is guilty."
Attorneys asked Judge John Judge to consider Ada County as an alternative venue.
Leroy says Boise, a town 300 miles from Moscow, is around ten times larger with around half a million people.
"But of course the Kohberger case has had a great deal of publicity here. There are a number of Idaho Vandals who attended the university and have followed the case very closely," he added. "People cannot pretend people in Ada County have not heard of the case."
However, he also notes residents of Ada County would likely not be as close to the case or the crime scene.
Leroy says it's "not particularly common" for trial venues to be moved in Idaho, though that's more likely due to a lack of high-profile crimes.
Of the tens of thousands of criminal cases every year, Leroy says a few hundred actually go to trial.
"Among those there are very, very few with the publicity or potential for prejudice that call for a change of venue," Leroy said.
Similarly, high-profile cases in Idaho, those against Lori Vallow Daybell and husband Chad Daybell, did have a venue change.
Fremont County Judge Steven Boyce ruled publicity in eastern Idaho had been "prejudicial and sometimes inflammatory" enough to move the cases to Ada County, also noting the county's larger jury pool and courthouse.
A change of venue hearing in Kohberger's case is set for August 29. Judge Judge set the trial to start June 2, 2025 and run through late August 2025; he wrote if the venue is changed, those trial dates won't move.