Kohberger in court to discuss timeline for Idaho killings trial

(NewsNation) — Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022 appeared in court Wednesday as his attorneys pushed for a venue change and discussed the investigative genetic genealogy evidence in the case.

The defense asked the court to allow three defense experts and unnamed “criminal investigators” to view the investigative genetic genealogy, or IGG, which has been sealed, according to a February filing.

Kohberger’s lead attorney Ann Taylor argued a fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County, due to what she has called the “extensive inflammatory pre-trial publicity” in the case.

Taylor argued the trial should be pushed until the summer of 2025, due to the mountains of evidence and discovery that has been turned over in the case. This includes 51 terabytes of evidence collected over the course of the investigation.

She also told the judge she has been “fighting” to get access to discovery, saying each additional piece of discovery she requested was taking weeks for a response.

Ultimately, the judge did not set a trial date, but called for another hearing on May 14, 2024 to issue a ruling on the request for a change in venue and set a date to begin the trial.