A subdued Bryan Kohberger waived his right to speedy court appearance at second hearing in an Idaho courthouse
Kohberger's former lawyer has said he doesn't think the accused killer can get a fair trial in Moscow, Idaho.
Pennsylvania
- Bryan Kohberger is expected to appear at a pretrial hearing in Idaho Thursday.
- The short hearing will deal primarily with scheduling.
- Kohberger is accused of killing 4 University of Idaho students in November.
Bryan Kohberger appeared bewildered and subdued at his second appearance in a Moscow, Idaho, courthouse Thursday.
Waving his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, Kohberger entered Latah County District Court with wide eyes and swiveled side to side in his chair.
He is charged with four counts of murder and a count of burglary in the killings of 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves and the 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle in November.
"Are you waving your right to a speedy preliminary hearing?" Judge Megan Marshall asked. "Yes," Kohberger replied in a subdued voice.
Marshall ruled that Kohberger's decision was "intelligently and voluntarily entered in court with assistance of counsel." Under Idaho law, had Kohberger not waved his right, his preliminary hearing would have had to come within 14 days of his first appearance, which was on January 5.
Kohberger was escorted into the courtroom at 8:08 a.m., dressed in an orange T-shirt.
In contrast to his first appearance, when he nodded vigorously when spoken to by the judge, Kohberger was stiller on Thursday.
The hearing was short, with lawyers working out the schedule for how the case will proceed. His next appearance in court will be June 26.
Kohberger's court-appointed attorney, Anne Chere Taylor, said she expected that presentation of evidence could take as many as five days. Marshall blocked out the entire week of June 26.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson had no objection. Kohberger will continue to be held without bond.
Around 20 members of the public came to see Kohberger. They were a mix of young and old University of Idaho students, teenagers with piercings and dyed hair, and a local family.
There were no members of the victims' families in the courtroom, but the lawyer for the Goncalves family was in attendence.
When the hearing was over, Kohberger walked out of the court with frailty, the sound of his ankle shackles clacking.
Kohberger's former public defender Jason LaBar, who represented him at a hearing in Pennsylvania, told Newsnation that he doesn't believe his client can get a fair trial in Moscow, Idaho.
"There's four families suffering from loss, they will never get their loved ones back," LaBar said. "They want justice, but everyone wants to make sure the right guy is the one they have at trial and is the one that is ultimately convicted."
Prosecutors allege that Kohberger — a 28-year-old studying for his doctorate in criminology at WSU — the four University of Idaho students at their off-campus housing in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13.
In the days that followed, while many residents of the college towns of Moscow and Pullman, Washington, were canceling appointments and leaving the area amid fear of a killer on the loose, Kohberger kept his routine, Insider previously reported.
After a manhunt that dragged on for over a month, Police arrested Kohberger at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on December 30.
Kohberger has not yet entered a plea in the case.