In a hearing Thursday, Judge John Judge denied a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment of Bryan Kohberger; the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last November.
The motion argued that there was an error in the grand jury instructions, and because of this, the grand jury indictment should be dismissed.
Jay Logsdon, one of Kohberger’s defense attorneys argued that the Idaho constitution set the standard of proof for a grand jury at a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard based on the language of the statute and a long legislative history that supports the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. Logsdon referred to several court cases that have happened in the past to support his argument.
He also argued that the Idaho Supreme Court cannot adjust the standard of proof; and that the failure to instruct a grand jury as to the standard of proof is grounds for dismissal of the indictment. Therefore, the grand jury was instructed with the standard requirement for presentment, and that the court could treat the grand jury indictment as presentment. Thus, permitting Kohberger to request a preliminary hearing and dismiss his indictment.
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye, a member of the prosecution, responded to Logsdon’s arguments; stating that the Idaho Supreme Court had already decided on the issue in previous cases and that the standard of proof was not up for debate.
Judge Judge responded to Logsdon’s arguments calling them “creative.” He stated that ultimately, he was bound by Idaho law and that Logsdon’s arguments would have to be brought up to a higher court or even the Idaho Supreme Court.
Earlier on Thursday morning, there was a private hearing regarding alleged errors in the grand jury indictment. Arguments from both the defense and the prosecution were heard, but the rulings for these decisions were sealed and hidden from the eyes of the public.
The judge also declared his decision on cameras in the courtroom. He acknowledged he couldn’t control everything about the cameras, but he urged everyone to have dignity, restraint, and patience.
“I’m not going to ban cameras in the courtroom, but I need more control over what the cameras are doing. “Judge said.
Ben DeWitt can be reached at [email protected] or on X @BenDeWitt321