1 week Ago By Anthony Kuipers
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger argued Friday that the search warrants in the 2022 Moscow murder case were too broad, and therefore evidence should be suppressed. Friday’s arguments in Ada County District Court were a continuation of Thursday’s hearing regarding evidence in the 2022 murder case. Kohberger’s defense team is attempting to suppress evidence that was gathered throughout the case by police, including DNA, cellphone data, Amazon and Apple accounts and other evidence found at Kohberger’s parents’ Pennsylvania home where he was arrested Dec.
30, 2022. Defense attorney Elisa Massoth questioned Moscow Police Department detectives Brett Payne and Lawrence Mowery during Friday’s hearing about their affidavits that led to the search warrants for this evidence. Afterward, Massoth argued to Judge Steven Hippler that these warrants were too general and not specific enough to be valid.
She said a warrant has to be particular enough so that nothing is left to the discretion of the officer executing the warrant. She also stated that accessing Kohberger’s electronic data is a violation of privacy. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Jennings countered that the warrants were specific to the type of crime and location.
The warrant for Kohberger’s cellphone specified what types of data the police could search, she said. Jennings added that it is not considered a violation of Kohberger’s privacy to search Amazon’s business records, for example. Kohberger attorney Jay Logsdon argued the police raid on Kohberger’s parents’ home in Pennsylvania was unlawful because it was allegedly done without a local warrant.
He also claimed the police did not knock and announce their presence before breaking down a door in the home. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson claimed there were three valid local warrants leading to that search. Hippler added that police often do not knock and announce themselves in order to protect their own safety and to prevent the suspect from destroying evidence.
On Thursday, the parties argued over the legitimacy of evidence coming from DNA, witness statements, cell tower data and Kohberger’s vehicle. Kohberger’s attorneys are trying to suppress this evidence and convince Hippler to order a Franks hearing, which is held when there is suspicion that police gave false information to attain a search warrant. Hippler did not make a decision during Friday’s hearing, but will issue a written order on whether to suppress the evidence at a later time.
On Thursday, Kohberger’s attorneys argued that false and omitted information from police led to the warrant ordering his arrest for the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022. The defense also argued to suppress DNA evidence in the case. Part of Thursday’s hearing was closed to the public because Hippler was concerned information in the hearing would prejudice the jury pool.
Kohberger’s attorney Anne Taylor tried to convince Hippler that the police affidavits supporting the search warrants in this case had false and omitted information. The warrants were signed by Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall. Taylor spoke about the police interviews with a witness in the King Road house where the murders occurred.
She said the police’s account of the witness’s statements, and the number of times she was interviewed, were false and that she admitted to drinking that night and having issues with her memory..
