In a hearing for Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger, Latah County District Court Judge John Judge has granted the defendant’s request to remove media cameras from the courtroom. However, the proceedings will still be streamed by the court. Judge urged the media and other courtroom spectators to “have some dignity and some restraint” while making this decision. The judge cited the intense focus on Kohberger and negative media coverage as reasons for no longer permitting photograph and video coverage inside the courtroom.
The decision comes after months of anticipation in the highly publicized case. Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in their rental home in an ambush. The victims, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, were all in their early twenties. Some of them were asleep at the start of the massacre. Investigators found a knife sheath with the suspect’s DNA under one of the victim’s bodies.
The judge’s ruling states that members of the media and the public will not be allowed to record their own video, audio, or take photographs of future hearings. However, a court-provided livestream will be available through Judge John Judge’s YouTube channel during future public hearings.
In addition, Judge denied a media coalition’s motion to intervene in the case, accusing the media of violating his requests not to exclusively zoom in on Kohberger’s face and not to record before or after court is in session. Defense counsel has also raised concerns about video footage and photographs capturing private documents on the counsel table, as well as the filming of vulnerable victims and witnesses during testimony.
Bryan Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University at the time of the crime, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He has not entered a plea yet, and Judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf during his arraignment in May. If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty.
This is a developing story, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
