The defense is targeting the death penalty in Idaho ahead of the Brian Koberger murder trial

Brian Koberger’s defense shot down a prosecutor’s plan to give an Ada County jury the chance to sentence the University of Idaho homicide suspect to death in the latest court documents in the closely watched case.

This week, Kochberger’s lawyers filed more than a dozen statements in support their constant efforts eliminate the death penalty as a possible sentence for the man suspected of killing four U of I students in November 2022. Applications were received in response to objections earlier this month from state prosecutors who want the death penalty for Koberger if convicted of murder.

The new defense briefs, each signed by Kootenay County Public Defender Jay Logsdon, sought to rebut prosecutors’ arguments about the appropriateness and their authority in Idaho to seek the death penalty for Koberger. Logsdon countered in his briefs that many of the grounds for doing so are inconsistent, outdated or unconstitutional, based on US and Idaho law and legal precedent.

In 2015, when the Idaho Supreme Court ruled on modern decency standards for the death penalty, 32 US states had active death penalty programs, Logsdon wrote in one challenge. That total has since dropped to 27 states, including Idaho, but six of those states maintain moratoriums on executions imposed by governors. Information Center on the Death Penalty.

“Evolving societal standards and the unusualness of the death penalty have changed,” Logsdon argued. “This court must take these changes into account and impose a penalty in this matter.”

The trial in the case of Kochberger’s murder was supposed to take place in Moscow, but his lawyers successfully defended the place should be changed due to the bias of local jurors. Idaho Supreme Court moved the court session to Boise, where he is now overseen by Judge Stephen Hipler of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District in Ada County.

Koberger is on trial scheduled for summer 2025.

Death penalty hearing November 7

Koberger is accused of murdering four first-year students in a house outside the university in Moscow nearly two years ago. The case, including a nearly seven-week manhunt for the suspect that ended in eastern Pennsylvania with his arrest, has drawn global attention and continues to draw national attention ahead of a scheduled trial in Boise.

The victims of the early morning attack were Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Kayleigh Gonsalves, 21, from Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. According to the local coroner, each of the students was stabbed to death with a large knife.

Koberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Last year, the prosecutor’s office issued its intention seek the death penaltyquoting five aggravating factorsincluding that the murders were “particularly gruesome” and that the defendant would be a “constant threat to society.”

Logsdon targeted each detractor separately. He wrote that the heinousness standard has been adopted by the state’s highest court, but Idaho law does not allow a defendant to be put to death for any reason unless approved by the legislature. Additionally, Logsdon argued that someone’s future potential to commit a crime is not legally sufficient to sentence someone to the death penalty.

“…Idaho’s scheme does not specify at all who should be entitled to die.” he wrote.

Earlier this month, on the basis of a separate summons, prosecutors removed one their five original detractors, leaving four left. If the jury finds Kochberger guilty, they only need to find one aggravating factor to sentence him to death, if that remains a possible sentence in the case.

Koberger, who turns 30 next month, has been in police custody for about 22 months since his arrest in December 2022 on suspicion of murder. It was unanimous indicted in May 2023 on five felony indictments by a Latah County grand jury and a the judge made a statement no fault on his part when he remained silent.

Koberger is scheduled to appear in court next November 7 for oral presentations between the parties as to whether he should be eligible for the death penalty.