OAN’s Abril Elfi
2:27 PM – Monday, August 28, 2023
The legal defense team for Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the University of Idaho murders, has requested to ban cameras in the courtroom.
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The suspect’s lawyer, Anne Taylor, asked the Idaho judge on Friday to remove cameras from the courtroom, claiming that operators failed to heed a directive to avoid focusing solely on Kohberger.
The attorney argued that “camera-wielding courtroom observers have failed to obey” a directive by Judge John Judge which was given on June 27th.
During the June 27th hearing, the judge highlighted the recent Chad Daybell trial, in which photographers were asked to leave the courtroom for placing too much focus on the defendant.
In order to remain for the rest of the proceedings, the judge stated that cameras in the courthouse must display a wide, landscape shot of the courtroom rather than focusing solely on the suspect in close ups.
According to Taylor, the press have thus far failed to comply with the court’s order, as the circulation of Kohberger photographs continue to circulate.
“Observers’ continued failure to comply with the Court’s June 27th directive compounds this problem and results in the potential jury pool’s constant inundation with conclusory accusations and sensationalistic nonsense guised as factual reporting and analysis,” Taylor wrote. “The images and videos provided above were taken during pre-trial court proceedings, but pose no less danger. To the contrary, they gradually poison the potential jury pool prior to trial even occurring, winnowing the number of jurors able to render a just, unbiased verdict.”
Taylor’s demand to remove cameras from the courtroom comes after Kohberger forfeited his right to a speedy trial during a court hearing on Wednesday afternoon, delaying the trial’s start date, which was initially set for October 2nd.
The suspect is being charged with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, all who were fatally stabbed in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania in December and extradited to Idaho a few days later in connection to the killings.
In May, he was formally charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one act of criminal burglary after pleading not guilty to all charges during his arraignment.
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