The judge overseeing the case of Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with the killing of four University of Idaho students, has declined to throw out key DNA evidence from his upcoming trial.
Why It Matters
Kohberger’s attorneys had sought to suppress the DNA evidence, which is viewed as crucial to the prosecution’s case against him. Law enforcement used a process called investigative genetic genealogy, or IGG, that led them to Kohberger as a possible suspect.
Kohberger, 30, is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Kai Eiselein/Pool-Getty Images
What To Know
Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Kohberger’s attorneys that law enforcement had violated his constitutional rights when they used IGG.
A probable cause affidavit released in January 2023 said investigators found DNA on a knife sheath at the crime scene and matched it to Kohberger’s father. Prosecutors later said that the IGG process—which involves genetic information being uploaded to public genealogy databases to look for possible relatives—was used to initially lead investigators to Kohberger.
Kohberger’s attorney Anne Taylor argued at a hearing in January that the court should suppress the IGG identification because police never obtained warrants to analyze the DNA found at the crime scene, and did not get warrants to analyze the DNA of potential relatives that had been submitted to genealogy databases.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Hippler wrote that in order to suppress evidence based on a warrantless search, Kohberger’s defense would need to “show that he had legitimate expectation of privacy in the item or place searched.”
He wrote that “applying well-settled principles of Fourth Amendment, the Court finds no constitutional violation. First, Defendant abandoned any privacy interest in his DNA by disclaiming knowledge or ownership of the sheath from which the DNA was extracted. Second, even if no such abandonment occurred, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in DNA found at a crime scene which is subsequently analyzed to identify an unknown suspect.”
The judge also said Kohberger’s constitutional rights were also not violated when law enforcement collected trash from the Pennsylvania home of his parents.
Hippler also ruled against other defense motions that objected to the way warrants were issued in the case and that sought to suppress data obtained from Kohberger’s cellphone and his Apple, Amazon and Google accounts.
The four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed in a rental home near the university’s campus in Moscow in the early hours of November 13, 2022. Kohberger, who was a graduate student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington, at the time of the slayings, stood silent when asked to enter a plea, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
What People Are Saying
Hippler wrote in his ruling: “The Court finds Defendant has failed to demonstrate his constitutional rights were contravened by the IGG and trash pill an, therefore, suppression is not warranted.”
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm, told Newsweek last year: “The single source DNA found at the scene is the key piece of evidence tying Kohberger to the murders, so if the defense can get it suppressed so the jury does not hear about it, that is a huge win.”
What’s Next
Kohberger’s trial is set to begin on August 11 and run through November 7. Jury selection is to begin on July 30.
