New judge sets expectations in case against man charged with killing 4 Idaho university students

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A routine status hearing for a man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students drew a small crowd Thursday, with people beginning to line up outside the Boise courtroom five hours early in hopes of getting a seat.

It was the first hearing for Bryan Kohberger since the case was moved to a new venue about 300 miles (483 kilometers) from the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, where the killings occurred.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home near campus.

When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.

Status conferences are typically uneventful, designed so the parties in a legal case can provide updates to the judge and schedule deadlines for future proceedings.

But when the Idaho Supreme Court moved the case to Boise earlier this month, it also turned it over to a new presiding judge, appointing 4th District Judge Steven Hippler to replace 2nd District Judge John Judge.

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The venue was changed after Kohberger’s defense attorneys successfully argued that extensive media coverage and strong emotions in the university town would make it difficult to find an impartial jury.

“I’d like to tell you I’m happy to be here, but why start with an untruth,” Hippler said at the beginning of the hearing. He then began to lay out his expectations for the attorneys.

“I do expect — and this will come as no surprise to you — for you all to get along,” Hippler said.

The stakes in the case are “as high as they can be,” the judge said, but the attorneys are professionals who took an oath to uphold justice.

“I expect for you at all times to remain civil to each other, that you not engage in personal attacks, ad hominem attacks, that you not engage in theatrics, not misstate facts or the law to the court,” Hippler said.

He also said he expected all of the parties in the case to follow a sweeping gag order issued by the previous judge.

Kohberger’s trial is currently set to begin next June and is expected to last between three and four months. Hippler said he worried that would be too challenging for jurors because it would span the entire summer vacation, when kids are home from school and family trips are often planned.

He suggested either starting the trial sooner, in May, or pushing the start date to September. When Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said he preferred May, and defense attorney Ann Taylor said she preferred a September date, the judge decided to hold a closed hearing so both sides could present their arguments.

Taylor also said the defense team had been working with a special mitigation expert since the start of the case but the expert died, forcing the team to find a replacement. They now have a new person to fill the role, Taylor said, but the expert is not yet up to speed on the case, so additional preparation time may be needed.

The judge is expected to issue a written order once a new trial date is set.