MOSCOW, Idaho — Idaho District Judge, John Judge, has denied Kohberger’s first motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment from May 16.
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the quadruple quadruple murder of four University of Idaho students, was in court today for a motion filed by the defense.
On Oct. 26 Kohberger and his defense team filed two motions discussing the dismissal of the indictment due to errors in the grand jury instructions.
The first hearing was held this morning and was closed to the public. At this time there is no decision or statement from this morning’s hearing, we will have to wait for a a decision to clarify the status of the grand jury indictment itself.
This afternoon, the public was able to attend the second hearing on this motion.
Attorney Jay Logsdon, for the defense, says he believes that the standard of proof for a grand jury indictment should be a step further than “probable cause,” and something closer to “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Judge Judge rebutted by stating that Kohberger’s grand jury instructions were no different than instructions to previous grand juries.
Following the defense statements, Attorney Jeff Nye from the Idaho State Attorney General’s Office testified that the this issue has already been decided in the state of Idaho.
Logsdon testified against precedent, but Judge Judge says “I cant just change the law,” clarifying that he is constrained by state law.
Judge continues by saying that Logson would have to argue this law to the Idaho Supreme Court in the future, but for this case he is bound by previous rulings.
Before the meeting was adjourned, Judge Judge denied the motion. He insisted that the precedent for a grand jury indictment has been established in state law through previous cases.
A written statement and explanation will be released.
Judge John Judge also mentioned that he is not going to ban cameras in the courtroom but says that he needs to take “more control over the cameras. There has been independent recordings of the proceedings that have been releases outside of the approved cameras.
