Bryan Kohberger appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing regarding media access for his trial.
At the hearing, members of the defense, the prosecution and a media coalition deliberated on the matter.
Kohberger’s defense made the argument that the current positioning of cameras in the courtroom has been distracting. Jay Logsdon, one of Kohberger’s attorneys, pointed out that the cameras in the courtroom are aimed over the defense team’s shoulders, making it distracting to work. Logsdon suggested that cameras should be put in the back of the courtroom, “kind of like a C-SPAN.”
The prosecution decided that media access should be up to the discretion of the court. They also stated that cameras in the courtroom should not focus on witnesses or graphic evidence that is shown during the trial.
The media coalition was represented by former U.S. District Attorney of Idaho Wendy Olsen and Cory Carone. Olsen assured the prosecution that cameras in the courtroom wouldn’t focus on witnesses or graphic evidence shown. Olsen also suggested that disinformation regarding the Kohberger case could be disproven if cameras had access to the trial.
Judge John Judge remained skeptical of the media coalition’s intentions.
“There are many people you can’t control and your clients can’t control,” Judge said to Olsen. “This is not entertainment. This is a tragic issue.”
The Judge has not decided yet, but a written response detailing media access for the Kohberger trial will be published in coming days.
A motion of intervention filed by the media coalition was also reviewed at the hearing. The media coalition was seeking to intervene for the limited purpose of opposing Kohberger’s motion to remove cameras from the courtroom and to make full argument and briefing on the issue.
The motion was denied based off a legal technicality. The Judge is considering classifying the media coalition as an interested party to let them make interventions in the future. Neither the defense nor the prosecution had any objections.
Kohberger’s next appearance in court will be Sept. 22 in a hearing regarding the dismissal of his indictment.
Ben DeWitt can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @BenDeWitt321