Kohberger Seeks Judge's Removal and Venue Shift as 4-Murder Guilty Plea Faces Challenge
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 31
Kohberger Seeks Judge's Removal and Venue Shift as 4-Murder Guilty Plea Faces Challenge
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 31
Summary
Bryan Kohberger's lawyers moved to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler and return the post-conviction case to Moscow, Idaho, escalating their bid to undo his 2025 guilty plea.
The defense says the plea was unconstitutional, alleging ineffective counsel, unkept promises and threats from Kohberger's own lawyers that made the plea involuntary.
The recusal motion argues Hippler's impartiality is in doubt, citing his refusal to grant more discovery time before trial and later remarks describing Kohberger as lacking anything "good or intrinsically human."
Prosecutors want the July 2, 2025 plea-hearing transcript used to rebut those claims, while Hippler has set a Nov. 13 deadline for an amended petition and possible evidentiary hearing dates next year.
Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty to the 2022 stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students to avoid the death penalty; hearings on the recusal and venue motions could come before the broader plea challenge.