Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger asks new judge for courthouse wardrobe exception

Lawyers for criminology Ph.D. student Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho undergrads in a 4 a.m. home invasion attack, have asked the new judge overseeing his case to let him wear "street clothing" rather than a jailhouse jumpsuit to court.

After making his first couple of appearances in an orange Latah County Jail uniform in January 2023, Kohberger has been wearing suits to court. 

Now that proceedings have been moved to Ada County following a successful motion for a change of venue, his defense is asking the new judge, Steven Hippler, to allow him to continue dressing up, which they wrote in court documents would protect his right to a fair trial.

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"Authorizing Mr. Kohberger to wear street clothing to all public hearings is one way to reduce potential for prejudice," defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote.

Taylor cited a 1976 Supreme Court decision that found forcing a defendant to wear a jail uniform to court could negatively impact the person's presumption of innocence. 

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The same defense team also successfully argued to have news cameras removed from the proceedings, severely restricting the media's ability to photograph their client, regardless of what he wears.

She also took issue with media coverage of her client's new mugshot, taken last week after his transfer to Ada County custody.

The 29-year-old Kohberger was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, at the time of the murders. The school is just a 10-minute drive from the crime scene on the edge of the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, Idaho, just across the state line.

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Kohberger is accused of entering an off-campus rental home around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and massacring four students inside with a large knife.

The victims were Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. 

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Police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen's body that they later alleged in court documents had Kohberger's DNA on it. Investigators have also alleged that phone data and surveillance video placed Kohberger in the victims' neighborhood around the time of the murders.

His defense countered in court filings that he was out for a casual drive "as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars."

Goncalves' father, Steve Goncalves, has previously criticized Kohberger's ability to dress up in court, which he said is just part of a series of "unprecedented" pretrial privileges the defendant was granted in Latah County.

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Goncalves told Fox News Digital last year that he tried to find out who paid for the suits and get other information about the defense budget through a public records request, but it was denied under a gag order on the case.

"They won't tell us," he said. "But I witnessed the moment they agreed not to handcuff him in court."

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Kohberger is facing four charges of first-degree murder and another of felony burglary.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The defense is trying to have it taken off the table.

A judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf at his arraignment in May 2023. The trial has already been delayed and is expected to begin in June 2025.