Kohberger and his defense team will argue for the removal of Judge Steven Hippler on Oct. 15 in an Idaho courtroom
NEED TO KNOW
- Bryan Kohberger was granted an Oct. 15 court date for oral arguments in support of the defense’s motion to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler
- Hippler presided over the proceedings in the case that sent Kohberger to prison for life after he pled guilty to four counts of murder in a deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty
- In a petition for post-conviction relief filed in July, Kohberger claims that his legal counsel failed to inform him of “exculpatory discovery” in his case prior to his decision to accept a plea deal with prosecutors
Bryan Kohberger will be returning to court much sooner than expected.
The former criminology student, 31, and his defense team were granted an Oct. 15 hearing at the Ada County Courthouse in their attempt to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler from presiding over his bid for post-conviction relief, according to the court docket.
This comes shortly after Hippler—who ordered Kohberger to serve four life sentences for the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin— scheduled the first status conference and evidentiary hearing in the case for June 2027.
Kohberger filed his handwritten petition for post-conviction relief back in July, writing that he had “ineffective assistance of counsel” and that his guilty plea was not entered “knowingly or voluntarily because [it] was induced by unkept promises” and “because of threats asserted by [his] legal counsel.”…