A judge has denied a motion by Bryan Kohberger to delay his upcoming trial, rejecting arguments that his defense team needs more time to review evidence, conduct further investigation, and respond to media coverage.
The ruling was issued Thursday.
Kohberger is charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
He has pleaded not guilty.
In his ruling, Judge Steven Hippler said Kohberger failed to show good cause for a continuance or demonstrate that his rights would be harmed by proceeding with the trial as scheduled.
Kohberger’s legal team argued that they needed more time for three reasons: to review the massive amount of discovery, to continue investigating mitigating evidence for the penalty phase, and to address what they described as prejudicial media coverage.
However, the judge found these arguments insufficient, stating that the defense has had more than two years to prepare and has already engaged in extensive motion practice, retained about two dozen experts, and disclosed witness and exhibit lists.
“The Court finds a continuance is not warranted as Defendant has not made a showing that there is good cause to continue the trial or that his substantial rights will be prejudiced by proceeding to trial as scheduled,” Hippler wrote.
Kohberger’s attorneys argued that the large volume of discovery—including terabytes of video surveillance and thousands of public tips—was too vast to be fully reviewed before trial.
But Judge Hippler noted that most of the footage appeared to be irrelevant and that the state had already identified its trial exhibits. He added that defense attorneys failed to identify what specific materials they had been unable to review or what efforts they made to seek help with the review.
“The defense cannot simply point to the size of the data and expect a delay,” Hippler wrote.
He also criticized the timing of the motion, filed after discovery and expert deadlines had passed.
Kohberger’s team also claimed that new red flags raised by their mitigation investigation required more time to explore his life history and retain potential experts.
Hippler acknowledged the importance of a thorough penalty-phase investigation in a capital case but said the defense’s efforts already far exceed constitutional requirements.
The team has gathered a wide range of records and conducted dozens of interviews with Kohberger’s family, teachers, mental health professionals, and others.
The judge also noted that the defense failed to provide any plan or timeline for additional investigation and appeared to be pursuing an open-ended delay.
“This Court is not willing to continue the trial indefinitely to allow the defense team to embark on a fishing expedition,” he wrote.
The defense cited a recent Dateline NBC episode, an upcoming Amazon docuseries, and an upcoming book by author James Patterson as examples of inflammatory pretrial publicity that could taint the jury pool.
But Judge Hippler ruled that the court has already implemented safeguards—such as limiting media in the courtroom and planning for thorough jury selection—to ensure a fair trial.
He also noted that publicity has persisted for over two years and is unlikely to diminish with time.
“The longer the public is made to sit and wait for the facts to come out at trial, the more time there is for speculative stories, movies, and books,” he wrote. “Proceeding with trial as scheduled will likely avoid negative consequences from future publicity.”
Kohberger’s attorneys also asked for more time to investigate alleged leaks of confidential information to the media.
They argued that such leaks could amount to a Brady violation if they came from witnesses or investigators.
The judge rejected this argument as well, stating that it was based on “a house of speculative assumptions” and that there was no guarantee any leak would be confirmed, traced to the prosecution, or yield material evidence.
“This trial cannot be held hostage indefinitely to the outcome of the investigation,” Hippler concluded.
The trial is expected to begin in early September.
©2025 Cox Media Group
