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By Chloe Mayer
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The lawyer representing Bryan Kohberger—who stands accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022—is trying to limit which criminals qualify for the death penalty.
Anne Taylor, chief of the Kootenai County Public Defender's Office, urged Idaho lawmakers not to pass a bill that would expand which defendants are eligible for capital punishment. The bill is seeking to make sexual crimes committed against children under the age of 12 punishable by death. Taylor has said the state would struggle to process an increase in capital punishment cases, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
Her client is accused of killing four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in the early hours of November 13, 2022. The victims—Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20—were killed at a shared student house in the college town of Moscow.
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Criminology PhD student Kohberger, 28, who studied at nearby Washington State University was arrested at the end of December at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. Now aged 29, he stands accused of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Kohberger has continued to maintain his innocence.
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His lead attorney, Taylor, appeared before an Idaho Senate committee last week to argue against proposals to expand the death penalty criteria in the state. The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug, passed in the House before it came up for a Senate committee hearing Friday.
Taylor told the committee: "These are not cases that are quick to be resolved. If it remains a death penalty case, it can take years to get to trial and get to a sentencing phase in that case[...] Idaho is not staffed or prepared for this."
Florida adopted a similar law last year although it looks set to face potential legal challenges over whether it is constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled against such bills.
Taylor was joined by four other state public defenders, and the Senate committee voted down the bill, preventing its advance to a full Senate vote. Skaug told the Statesman he may look at amending the bill and trying to pass it again in the future.
Newsweek has reached out to Skaug and Taylor by email seeking further information and comment.
Meanwhile, work on Kohberger's case continues, and he must reveal whether he has an alibi by next month. A date for his trial has yet to be set.
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