ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania has been watching from afar, as the case of Bryan Kohberger makes it through the Idaho courts system. Newly-filed court documents give a glimpse at the defense of the Poconos man charged with murdering four Idaho college students.
“Typically, the voir dire process of examining jurors only begins when they actually show up to the courthouse,” said David Leroy, the former Idaho attorney general and lieutenant governor and a criminal defense attorney.
“Only on the most significant, highly publicized cases does either party reach out to the community to poll prospective jurors before the trial begins.”
Bryan Kohberger’s defense can resume surveying potential jurors, according to court documents released this week. That was previously halted, over concerns about tainting a potential jury.
“The problem we had with the original survey conducted by the defense was an argument raised by the prosecution that the questions had too many facts included, or too many wrong facts included,” said Leroy.
The attorney for the family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four Idaho college students brutally killed, sent 69 News a statement, saying in part, “The survey is a ruse being used by the defense in an attempt to keep the trial out of Latah County. We pray the trial stays with the citizens of Latah County and justice is served.”
The highly-anticipated change of venue hearing is now scheduled for June 27.
“We will continue to hear arguments from the defense about their grave concerns as to whether or not people in Latah County, a small, relatively rural college town county of about 44,000 people, can be objective,” said Leroy.
In documents released last week, just before deadline, we learned about Kohberger’s reported alibi.
The defense wrote, “Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars.”
The Goncalves family said after hearing this, they’re even more confident in his prosecution, noting what he was allegedly doing wasn’t complicated and questioning why that would take a year to be released.
Police say his phone was off during the two-hour period when the students were stabbed and that his DNA was found at the scene.
Read More: Surveying and stargazing: the latest on the Kohberger case, reaction from the