Idaho prosecutors say Bryan Kohberger’s new attorneys are pursuing a “fishing expedition” and seeking to delay proceedings while they search for stronger grounds to challenge his guilty plea.
“Unfortunately for [Kohberger], that is not how discovery in post-conviction proceedings works,” Deputy Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl wrote in opposition to Kohberger’s request for additional time to submit an amended petition.
The current filing deadline is Nov. 13, exactly four years after the killings of four University of Idaho students in Moscow.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse during his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. He pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
Kohberger’s attorneys contend the deadline would permanently bar any claims left out of the amended petition, which must be filed before discovery deadlines scheduled for next year. They are asking to review discovery materials before submitting the filing.
“Post-conviction discovery is supposed to assist you and your lawyers in proving a legitimate constitutional claim, in this case, ineffective assistance of counsel,” said Randolph Rice, a Maryland attorney and legal analyst who has been monitoring the case.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles while sitting 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 one day before the four students were fatally stabbed. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
“It isn’t supposed to be a fishing expedition to help you invent a new one,” Rice said. “You don’t get to throw a fishing net into the discovery ocean and hope you pull up a constitutional violation.”
Prosecutors have also asked the court to dismiss Kohberger’s handwritten petition immediately. That motion is unlikely to resolve the matter, however, because his new lawyers are expected to replace it with an amended petition.
Judge Steven Hippler gave Bryan Kohberger’s new legal team until Nov. 13 to revise his handwritten filing. (Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, to four counts of first-degree murder and one burglary charge in the stabbing deaths of 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson walks through the parking lot at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on Aug. 7, 2026. (Derek Shook for News Outlet)
A year later, Kohberger filed a motion he prepared himself seeking post-conviction relief. In it, he alleged that his attorneys had provided ineffective assistance and misled him into pleading guilty.
Hippler subsequently ordered Kohberger’s new legal team to amend the handwritten petition by Nov. 13.
Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania ahead of his extradition hearing. (The Image Direct for News Outlet)
His attorneys have also asked to remove Hippler from the case, arguing that potential bias could affect his oversight of the proceedings. Separately, they want the venue moved back to Latah County, where the killings occurred.
A still from body-camera footage shows Bryan Kohberger during an Aug. 21, 2022, traffic stop in Latah County, Idaho. (Latah County Sheriff’s Office)
Kohberger’s original defense team successfully sought to move the case out of Latah County. The proceedings were transferred to Ada County because of concerns about ensuring a fair trial.
The Latah County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and Kohberger’s new lead attorney, Greg Rauch, are both based in Moscow, the county seat.
News Outlet contacted prosecutors and Kohberger’s legal team for comment.
