Judge approves new lawyer for Bryan Kohberger in Idaho murder trial
An Idaho judge has granted Bryan Kohberger’s request for new legal representation as he tries to pursue a new trial, even after previously admitting guilt in the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. Legal analyst Mehek Cooke noted that undoing a guilty plea is an exceptionally difficult legal hurdle, while relatives of the victims have described the renewed court fight as a painful reopening of a devastating chapter.
In a new order laying out the next steps in Kohberger’s effort to withdraw his guilty plea, Idaho Judge Steven Hippler made clear that a potential June 2027 hearing date is not guaranteed. The judge set several deadlines for the months ahead and spelled out what both prosecutors and the defense must provide as the case moves forward.
“If an evidentiary hearing is granted, it shall be set to commence on June 17, 2027, at 9:00 a.m.,” Hippler wrote.
Prosecutors are urging the court to deny such a hearing, arguing that Kohberger’s allegations are “bare, conclusory and unsupported by admissible evidence.”
Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty last year to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the 2022 stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in a deal that spared him the death penalty for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
In a motion filed Tuesday, Deputy Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl requested a transcript of Kohberger’s July 2, 2025, change-of-plea hearing, signaling that prosecutors may use Kohberger’s own statements from that proceeding to challenge the claims raised in his new petition.
Kohberger’s handwritten petition, filed in July, alleges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. He also claims his guilty plea was “not knowingly or voluntarily entered because it was induced by unkept promises” and that it was “not voluntarily entered because of threats asserted by petitioner’s (Kohberger’s) legal counsel.”
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
But in 2025, Kohberger checked “no” when asked whether an attorney or anyone else had forced or coerced him into accepting the plea agreement or made other promises that influenced his decision.
He affirmed that there was nothing going on in his life that would impair his ability to enter his guilty plea voluntarily, and there was no reason he couldn’t make a “reasoned and informed decision” when he did so.
Read the state’s motion to dismiss Kohberger’s petition for post conviction relief:
Scholl asked Hippler to dismiss Kohberger’s petition outright.
“The petition fails to raise a genuine issue of material fact, and respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” he wrote.
He added that Kohberger could have raised his claims of constitutional violations in an appeal — while the plea agreement itself says he waived his appellate rights. He said Kohberger’s petition included no facts to support his claim that he had ineffective counsel and wrote that Kohberger’s “freestanding claim of actual innocence” is unrecognized under the law.
Lastly, he wrote, Kohberger’s defense team wasn’t obligated to explain “the conditions of prison life or what the incarceration would practically entail as collateral consequences of a guilty plea.”
Read Hippler’s scheduling order:
Hippler set the following dates over the next few months for deadlines in the case:
He gave Kohberger until Nov. 13 — four years to the day after the murders — to file an amended petition. The state has 14 days to file a new answer once one is filed, or 14 days from the deadline if Kohberger doesn’t file one.
Kohberger must disclose witnesses, expert reports and opinions by Feb. 1, 2027.
The state’s rebuttal expert disclosures are due on March 1, 2027.
Investigators set up outside the home where four University of Idaho students were slain in November last year in Moscow, Idaho, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Derek Shook for News Outlet)
Discovery requests have to be completed by May 7, 2027.
Then a status conference and evidentiary hearing have been tentatively scheduled for June 3, 2027, and June 17, 2027, respectively.
The sides have 14 days from the order, made public Wednesday, to ask for any alterations to the schedule. Potentially, Hippler could grant an earlier hearing to resolve scheduling disagreements.
