OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:40 AM – Monday, February 3, 2025
The Idaho judge overseeing the case involving four University of Idaho students who were murdered in 2022 is reportedly planning to unseal the transcript of a notable closed door hearing.
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On January 23rd, suspect Bryan Kohberger and his defense joined a closed door hearing alongside prosecutors and Ada County Judge Steven Hippler.
Even though Hipple originally barred the public and the media from attending the hearing, he told court officials to hand over verbatim copies of the unredacted transcript from the sealed hearing — first giving them to the prosecution and then later, the defense, so that both parties could recommend redactions if necessary.
“The parties will have fourteen (14) days to identify those portions of the transcript that should be redacted from public disclosure, providing a basis for the same,” he wrote in an order made public Tuesday. “Thereafter, the Court will release to the public a redacted transcript of the previously closed portion of the hearing.”
The hearing is alleged to have been related to forensic investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) evidence that Kohberger’s lawyers want thrown out.
Following the hearing, Kohberger appeared at a two-day public proceeding — where his defense argued that the FBI “violated his Fourth Amendment protection” against unreasonable searches and seizures.
“I struggle with the idea that DNA left at a crime scene, that there’s any expectation of privacy,” Hippler told Kohberger’s lead defense attorney, Anne Taylor.
Nevertheless, Hippler appeared unreceptive to arguments regarding how the IGG techniques allegedly violated Kohberger’s constitutional rights, and he questioned whether the defendant even had standing to challenge the investigatory tactic.
“It wasn’t his DNA that was searched,” Hippler said. “At best, it was his ancestors.”
Kohberger’s attorney also noted that the FBI had violated its own internal policy when checking IGG samples against a database.
Hippler then asked the prosecution why he should allow the evidence to be introduced.
They responded, arguing that there is no expectation of privacy in relation to public records and crime scene evidence, and Idaho Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye stated in court that the FBI’s interim policy Taylor questioned “does not impose any legal limitations on otherwise lawful investigative or prosecutorial activities.”
The court has suppressed most of the IGG process, and the unredacted transcript could provide fresh details about how police pieced together the case in the weeks after the killings while tracking Kohberger down to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.
The defense also requested that the proceedings be made public and that a briefing on the subject be released prior to the hearing, but Hippler denied the request.
The suspect is currently awaiting trial on multiple counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary related to the deaths of the four students who were all killed in the same home on the same night.
The victims were identified as Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
According to the probable cause affidavit, investigators tied him to the murders by using DNA evidence found on a knife sheath that was left at the scene, which was located in the bed where Mogen and Goncalves were found dead.
Additionally, the affidavit states that during the course of investigating Kohberger’s prior phone location pings, authorities found that at least 12 times before November 13th, 2022, his cell phone’s location was in the same vicinity of the 1122 King Road residence — where the murders occurred.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his trial was originally set for October 2nd, 2024. However, it was later delayed due to the suspect waiving his right to a speedy trial. It is now tentatively set for sometime in June 2025.
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