Weeks after a filing a bombshell handwritten affidavit claiming he received ineffective assistance of counsel and “was convinced to falsely confess to capital murder, and felony burglary by coercion, disinformation, false promises, and withholding of exculpatory discovery,” Bryan Kohberger has been granted has been granted a new hearing.
His new evidentiary hearing has been set for June 17, 2027.
Kohberger’s Claim
Last July, Kohberger pleaded guilty to the November 2022 murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin as part of a bombshell plea deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty.
The now-31 year old – who is serving four consecutive life in prison without the possibility of parole sentences for each first-degree murder count, plus 10 years for burglary – petitioned the court in late July to withdraw his guilty plea so he can seek a new trial.
In addition to alleging, without evidence, that he was lied to and pressured to falsely confess and that there was information withheld that could have potentially helped his case, Kohberger told The New York Times he had an “absolute claim of innocence” and claimed “justice was not served” in his case that was “circumnavigated by a broken plea.”
His New Legal Team
Kohberger is now represented by Idaho defense attorney Greg Rauch and New York-based attorney Jason Goldman. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Goldman said the immediate legal fight centers around the constitutionality of the plea his client is attempting to withdraw, but he suggested upcoming court filings and next year’s hearing will also shed new light on the murder case.
“We think the [amended] PCR and evidentiary hearing will naturally address some of the outstanding and unanswered questions,” Goldman said. “That said… the circumstances surrounding Bryan’s plea — and what occurred in the critical days leading up to it — deserve careful, independent judicial scrutiny.”
According to the attorney, “some of those circumstances are already part of the public record [and] others are not.”
Additionally, Kohberger’s team is trying to get Judge Steven Hippler removed from the case and change the venue back to Moscow, Idaho. Prior to his plea, Kohberger successfully argued to move the case out of Latah County, where the murders took place. That is how the case ended up with Hippler in Ada County to begin with.
The motion signed by Rauch and filed last week questioned Hippler’s impartiality and noted he declined to give Kohberger’s former defense team more time when they said they were not finished reviewing discovery in the weeks before the scheduled trial.
Does He Have a Shot?
So, does Kohberger actually have a shot at withdrawing his plea? On Tuesday’s Megyn Kelly Show, defense attorney Jonna Spilbor said there is a very real possibility. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this is not all for naught,” she said.
The possibility, in Spilbor’s view, stems from the unusual parameters of the plea deal. “Let’s blame the prosecutors and let’s blame the judge because they allowed this guy… to get away with pleading guilty without allocuting… He did not have to say who he killed, how he killed, when he killed, why he killed [like] every other defendant in this country has to… before a judge can accept a guilty plea,” she argued.
But her Positively Legal co-host Mark Eiglarsh wasn’t so sure. During his plea hearing, Kohberger told the judge under oath that he understood the agreement, had discussed it with his attorneys, and was pleading guilty because he was guilty.
“He did admit that he did this, and I don’t think there is going to be any… credible proof other than from his own mouth that they forced him, threatened him, coerced him, got him to admit his responsibility when he didn’t,” Eiglarsh countered.
Judge Hippler set a November 13 deadline for Kohberger’s defense team to file an amended petition. That document is expected to be written by attorneys and include more in-depth legal arguments than the handwritten petition Kohberger submitted in July.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Eiglarsh and Spilbor by tuning in to episode 1,389 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.