The Idaho State Supreme Court announced that the Bryan Kohberger trial will be moving to Ada County. Ada County is where Boise, the capital city of Idaho, is located.
The new presiding judge will be Steven Hippler of the fourth judicial district. Latah County Judge John Judge made the announcement days earlier that he was granting the defense’s motion to have the trial moved but did not decide where.
Judge cited his reasons for moving the trial to be safety issues and prejudice that could arise if it stayed in Latah County. The small staff of the sheriff’s office and county clerks would be overwhelmed by the size of the jury pool and number of people who are expected to be at the trial.
The issues surrounding prejudice were cited in the defense’s arguments with numerous examples of media saturation and negative social media posts directed towards Kohberger.
Ada County has the largest number of residents in the state, allowing for larger jury pool selection for the June 2025 trial.
The same motion was granted in the cases of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow to be moved from Fremont to Ada County earlier this year.
Allyssa Dotson can be reached at [email protected].