And thanks for joining us here on the news.
At 10, Brian Koberger was back in a late
Talk County courtroom today where a judge
heard arguments from his defense and
the prosecution over multiple issues.
Koberger is the man accused of murdering
4 University of Idaho students in a home
just off campus in November of last year.
And just yesterday the prosecution
filed their intent to seek the death
penalty if a jury finds Koberger guilty.
And news Channel Seven's Morgan Romero
was in court in Moscow this afternoon.
Good evening. Today's hearing in Layton
County District Court lasted a lot
quicker than a lot of us expected.
And when it was done, there was a lot
of confusion throughout the courtroom.
4 items were originally on the
calendar to be taken up today,
but only one of those issues was addressed
and that was 2 motions to compel discovery.
That was the only thing that attorneys
discussed in front of the judge.
I'm told the attorneys are working on the
other issues to gather behind closed doors.
Those would be the motions to
release grand jury proceedings.
As well as a motion to stay
or pause proceedings.
A spokesperson with the Idaho
Judicial Branch says it is not
unusual for attorneys to do this,
but the prosecution and the defense do
disagree about whether or when certain
records should be given to the defense.
Attorneys were also supposed to take
up a third motion to compel discovery
that has to do with the defense
warning documents related to DNA
and genetic genealogy investigation
that led to Coburger but yesterday.
The state asked for more time to
respond to that ask, and the judge,
John Judge, granted it.
As for what was brought up in court today,
the defense wants training records
of officers who did interviews
with key witnesses,
followed up on tips and
collected bits of evidence.
The state says it's out of scope
under Idaho rules and they won't call
those officers to testify at trial.
They say it's not material to their case.
The judge says he'll consider
arguments from both sides on this.
He'll look at case law and
then he will make a decision.
Coburger's defense attorney,
Ann Taylor,
is still asking prosecutors
for investigative reports and
conclusions from all cell phone
analysis done by the FBI Cast team.
They set out to find the
location of Coburger's phone.
This information was used in probable
cause affidavits to arrest Coburger,
as well as get several search warrants.
Taylor also wants reports from the
FBI forensic examiner related to
the change in the year of the white
Hyundai Elantra that they were
looking for in their search for the
suspect in his quadruple homicide.
She said prosecutors told her
they'll give her some of that info,
but they don't know when.
So she asked the judge to set a deadline.
And as the court is aware,
the state has five of this notice
and intent to seek death against Mr.
Coworker. These are critical,
relevant materials, all of them.
Including the police training records.
They're necessary for us to prepare
and present our defense of Mr.
Coburger. They're necessary for
us to do our investigation.
They're necessary for us to prepare our
case and our motion practice moving forward.
These are things that we need to have.
There are the heightened standards
now that the state has filed this
notice of intent to seek death,
and these are very relevant
critical bits of information.
They are discoverable and we're asking the
court to order that they be supplied to us.
So Miss Taylor's correct.
She has everything that the state
has in our possession and we work
diligently and consistently in
getting her all the information
that we have in a quick fashion.
Today we have discovered approximately
about 13,000 pages of reports,
13,000 photographs, over 10,000 tips.
And over 51 terabytes of
audio video information.
In regards to that second motion to
compel that information from the FBI,
the judge set a July 14th deadline to
compel the FBI to give the prosecution
and the defense that information.
There may not be hearings on those
other issues I mentioned earlier,
the grand jury transcripts and
the motion to stay proceedings if
the attorneys on both sides can
work it out amongst themselves.
So we will be watching closely
on the Idaho judicial Cases of
Interest page back to you.