Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Mega Edition: The Enormous Increase in Budget For Police In Idaho Following The Murders (9/2/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. Yesterday,
- 0:04Speaker 1: we were talking about Ann Taylor and how much money
- 0:08Speaker 1: she's going to be making an hour to defend Brian Koberger. Well,
- 0:12Speaker 1: on this episode, I wanted to talk a little bit
- 0:15Speaker 1: about how much the state of Idaho and the Idaho
- 0:17Speaker 1: State Police have spent so far on this case. And
- 0:22Speaker 1: when you're dealing with a quadruple homicide, it's certainly going
- 0:25Speaker 1: to add some cost to the budget that were unforeseen.
- 0:29Speaker 1: And a place like Idaho that's not that populated, they're
- 0:32Speaker 1: obviously working on a smaller budget than a place like
- 0:35Speaker 1: New York City or Los Angeles or something like that.
- 0:39Speaker 2: So things get a bit more restrictive, right?
- 0:41Speaker 1: And they don't have as many resources available to them
- 0:45Speaker 1: initially as some other places might have. But the Idaho
- 0:49Speaker 1: State Police and the investigators in the state in general
- 0:53Speaker 1: were able to overcome some of those shortfalls in the
- 0:56Speaker 1: beginning of this investigation. And then with the assistance of
- 0:59Speaker 1: their big brother in the FBI, they were able to
- 1:02Speaker 1: finally make an arrest in the case. But what is
- 1:05Speaker 1: the Idaho State Police budget in general? And how much
- 1:09Speaker 1: of that budget was used up conducting this investigation? So today,
- 1:14Speaker 1: that's what we're going to talk about. And to do that,
- 1:17Speaker 1: we have two articles from KTVB 7. And the first
- 1:21Speaker 1: one is from January 17th of 2023. And the author
- 1:28Speaker 1: is Andrew Bartleen. Governor Brad Little proposed increasing Idaho State
- 1:35Speaker 1: Police Commission state trooper pay by 10%. Additionally, he aims
- 1:40Speaker 1: to spend $ 200, 000.
- 1:42Speaker 2: On additional safety equipment for each trooper.
- 1:46Speaker 1: The mall shooting that occurred in Boise Mall in October
- 1:49Speaker 1: of 2021, we recognized immediately we didn't have the equipment
- 1:53Speaker 1: we needed. ISP Deputy Director, Lieutenant Colonel Bill Gardner, One
- 1:58Speaker 1: of those is ballistic tactical vests that a trooper can
- 2:01Speaker 1: throw on and run in. Now, I've been pretty clear
- 2:05Speaker 1: about how I feel about all of these military-type weapons
- 2:08Speaker 1: that police departments are acquiring, but when you're talking about
- 2:11Speaker 1: body armor, I think that's a necessity for police officers.
- 2:15Speaker 1: They have to have that body armor. I'm not a
- 2:17Speaker 1: fan of tanks. I'm not a fan of all that
- 2:19Speaker 1: other shit that you would see on actual battlefields being
- 2:23Speaker 1: in the possession of our police departments, except in the
- 2:26Speaker 1: most extreme circumstances. When you're going to enact a warrant
- 2:30Speaker 1: at somebody's house for minor drug possession, you don't need
- 2:33Speaker 1: to show up in a tank. Each trooper is already
- 2:37Speaker 1: issued body armor. It is typically worn under their uniform,
- 2:41Speaker 1: according to Gardner. However, these specific ballistic vests are tailored
- 2:45Speaker 1: towards stopping high-powered rounds. The $ 200, 000 would also purchase chest
- 2:50Speaker 1: protectors and riot gear for ISP, according to Gardner. This
- 2:56Speaker 1: gear has become increasingly necessary. amid events over the last
- 2:59Speaker 1: couple of years. You know what else would be real helpful?
- 3:03Speaker 1: Using some of this money to retrain some of these
- 3:05Speaker 1: officers and help them out in that regard as well.
- 3:09Speaker 1: It's all fine and well to give these guys weapons
- 3:11Speaker 1: of war, but how about we arm them mentally so
- 3:15Speaker 1: they're capable of dealing with the bullshit they gotta deal
- 3:17Speaker 1: with on a day-to-day basis? When we brought that to
- 3:21Speaker 1: their attention, the governor's office was quick to recognize that
- 3:25Speaker 1: this is a need. Every state trooper needs to have
- 3:27Speaker 1: that to do their job, Gardner said. But getting qualified
- 3:31Speaker 1: people to do the job is an equal need. At
- 3:35Speaker 1: any given time, ISP could be looking to hire 20
- 3:37Speaker 1: to 30 state troopers. When ISP hired Gardner on 25
- 3:42Speaker 1: years ago, the agency selected him from a pool of
- 3:45Speaker 1: more than 1,000 applicants. It just shows you how the
- 3:49Speaker 1: shine of becoming a law enforcement officer has worn off
- 3:53Speaker 1: for a lot of people. Hiring people is very difficult
- 3:58Speaker 1: right now. Now we're at the point where we hope
- 4:00Speaker 1: to get between 100 to 200 people, Gardner said. It's
- 4:04Speaker 1: dramatically changed from the number of people who are either
- 4:07Speaker 1: interested in law enforcement or those who feel as though
- 4:11Speaker 1: it is a career that will pay them enough to
- 4:13Speaker 1: support their family. The 10% pay increase intends to attract
- 4:17Speaker 1: new talent and retain current troopers. Governor Little's budget also
- 4:22Speaker 1: aims to provide more support to the Idaho Peace Officer
- 4:25Speaker 1: Standards and Training Division. Post-division administrator Brad Johnson announced in
- 4:30Speaker 1: October the division would cancel three academies due to inflation.
- 4:35Speaker 1: Now you see where my problem is? We're going to
- 4:37Speaker 1: cancel the academics, we're going to cancel the training as
- 4:41Speaker 1: far as interpersonal situations, but we're going to buy more
- 4:45Speaker 1: weapons of war? We're not putting these police officers in
- 4:49Speaker 1: a position to succeed. And then you wonder why nobody's
- 4:52Speaker 1: joining up and wants to deal with that bullshit. In response,
- 4:57Speaker 1: the proposed budget sets aside $ 1. 1 million to be split
- 5:01Speaker 1: between the 2023 fiscal year budget, the 2024 fiscal year budget,
- 5:06Speaker 1: and the fiscal year budget ending on June 30th. With
- 5:10Speaker 1: that additional revenue, it should be sufficient to meet our
- 5:13Speaker 1: training needs through the next 18 months, Johnson said. Training
- 5:16Speaker 1: is one of our primary missions. We take it seriously.
- 5:20Speaker 1: When we're unable to do that in the manner we should,
- 5:23Speaker 1: nobody enjoys that. Yeah, it opens the state up to
- 5:25Speaker 1: all kinds of lawsuits. It opens the citizens up to
- 5:28Speaker 1: having shitty encounters with police officers who are not trained correctly.
- 5:33Speaker 1: And then that leads to animosity in the community. Nobody
- 5:36Speaker 1: needs that in their life. But I wanted to talk
- 5:39Speaker 1: about this article first before we dive into the next
- 5:42Speaker 1: one so we kind of get an idea of what
- 5:44Speaker 1: their budget's looking like. All right, so our next article
- 5:48Speaker 1: is from KTVB as well. And this one's discussing how
- 5:52Speaker 1: much the Idaho State Police have spent on the Moscow
- 5:55Speaker 1: murders investigation. Headline, here's how much Idaho State Police have
- 6:00Speaker 1: spent on the Moscow murders investigation. This article was authored
- 6:06Speaker 1: by Alexandra Duggan and Danny Alsop. The murders of four
- 6:12Speaker 1: University of Idaho students in November of 2022 were was
- 6:16Speaker 1: a massive investigation that required many resources from police and
- 6:21Speaker 1: other agencies to work together. And with that came a $ 282, 109. 35
- 6:28Speaker 1: of expenditures related to the homicide case by the Idaho
- 6:33Speaker 1: State Police. Now look at that number and then look
- 6:37Speaker 1: at the other numbers we were just talking about in
- 6:39Speaker 1: that other article. So this is basically a fifth of
- 6:44Speaker 1: their whole budget blown on this one investigation. And that's
- 6:48Speaker 1: not even including what the FBI and the federal government
- 6:51Speaker 1: spent as well. We're never going to get that information because,
- 6:54Speaker 1: you know, the FBI does whatever they want and checks
- 6:57Speaker 1: and balances are for other people, not them. But the FBI,
- 7:01Speaker 1: meaning you and me, spent a ton of money on
- 7:03Speaker 1: this case as well. There was a bunch of federal
- 7:05Speaker 1: dollars that were being used by the federal departments. But
- 7:10Speaker 1: the state of Idaho, their nut ended up being like
- 7:13Speaker 1: one-fifth of their law enforcement budget for the whole year.
- 7:19Speaker 1: When Kaylee Gonsalves, Madison Mogan, Ethan Chapin, and Zanna Carnotal
- 7:23Speaker 1: were stabbed to death in a home off-campus on November 13, 2022,
- 7:29Speaker 1: Moscow police, Idaho State Police, and the FBI began the
- 7:33Speaker 1: long process of investigating their deaths. It led to the
- 7:36Speaker 1: arrest of 28-year-old Brian Kohlberger, a Washington State University Ph.D.
- 7:41Speaker 1: student based on DNA found at the scene. The expenditures
- 7:46Speaker 1: of $ 282, 109. 35 obtained through a public records request is the
- 7:54Speaker 1: exact amount of funds used as of February 6th, which
- 7:57Speaker 1: includes travel, overtime, lab testing, storage of evidence, and other
- 8:02Speaker 1: miscellaneous police work, according to ISP Communications Director Aaron Snell.
- 8:08Speaker 1: ISP dedicated significant resources to help the Moscow police, a
- 8:13Speaker 1: smaller-scale police department. Snell said the investigation of the four
- 8:17Speaker 1: murders qualifies as a large investigation and that cases and
- 8:21Speaker 1: costs at this magnitude are uncommon occurrences in comparison to
- 8:25Speaker 1: other investigations. But he doesn't think there is a set
- 8:28Speaker 1: parameter to accurately quantify them. Idaho Governor Brad Little allocated
- 8:34Speaker 1: $ 1 million from the state emergency fund in order to
- 8:37Speaker 1: help law enforcement. When Little announced the funding, he said
- 8:41Speaker 1: the expenses would be determined by ISP with the help
- 8:45Speaker 1: of other police agencies. Snell said ISP currently is paying
- 8:50Speaker 1: for expenses related to the case from a miscellaneous revenue
- 8:54Speaker 1: until a reimbursement is received from Little's office. So the
- 8:58Speaker 1: good news for Idaho is they're going to get that
- 9:00Speaker 1: money replenished from that emergency fund because you look at
- 9:04Speaker 1: the clip that it would have taken out of the
- 9:06Speaker 1: budget and that would have been all bad for Idaho
- 9:09Speaker 1: and them policing the state. We're talking about losing a
- 9:12Speaker 1: fifth of your budget in the middle of inflation. So
- 9:16Speaker 1: that's never a good thing, right? So thankfully, they were
- 9:18Speaker 1: able to get some of this dough from this emergency fund,
- 9:22Speaker 1: and that'll go a long way to replenish what they
- 9:24Speaker 1: have lost. ISP has not used all of Little's allocated funds,
- 9:29Speaker 1: Snell said, but there will be additional costs as the
- 9:32Speaker 1: investigation continues. Moscow Police Department denied a records request inquiring
- 9:38Speaker 1: about their expenditures related to the case. According to Moscow's
- 9:41Speaker 1: city attorney, information regarding how much the NPD has spent
- 9:46Speaker 1: is in violation of the non-dissemination order in the case
- 9:49Speaker 1: against Koberger. This is what I talked about yesterday and
- 9:52Speaker 1: the problem with the gag order being of this scope.
- 9:56Speaker 1: It's going to give cover to people like the Moscow
- 9:58Speaker 1: Police Department who just... don't want to be truthful. And
- 10:01Speaker 1: there's no reason that a gag order should restrict the
- 10:04Speaker 1: public and the media from knowing how much money has
- 10:07Speaker 1: been spent on this. Remember, these are taxpayer dollars. The
- 10:11Speaker 1: people of Idaho, they pay their taxes every year and
- 10:13Speaker 1: they expect some transparency on the back end of that.
- 10:17Speaker 1: And they want to know how their money is being spent, right?
- 10:20Speaker 1: So I think it's a bad move and a bad
- 10:22Speaker 1: look from the Moscow Police Department to deny this records request.
- 10:27Speaker 1: On the flip side, I think it's a good move
- 10:29Speaker 1: from the state police. The more transparency, the better. And
- 10:33Speaker 1: if the state police can provide this without it being
- 10:35Speaker 1: under the gag order, how is it that the Moscow
- 10:38Speaker 1: Police Department are going to try and stand on that
- 10:41Speaker 1: untenable ground? So I don't think that's the last we've
- 10:45Speaker 1: heard of that, honestly. And I wouldn't be shocked to
- 10:47Speaker 1: see the media try and get those records by other means.
- 10:51Speaker 1: And I'm guessing they're going to be firing off a
- 10:54Speaker 1: lot of other requests for public records as we move forward.
- 10:58Speaker 1: So it's going to be interesting to see how that
- 10:59Speaker 1: all goes. And it's going to be real interesting to
- 11:02Speaker 1: see if the vastness and the broad scope of the
- 11:05Speaker 1: gag order protects the Moscow Police Department from releasing this information.
- 11:11Speaker 1: All right, folks, well, that's going to do it for
- 11:12Speaker 1: this one. All of the information that goes with this
- 11:15Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box. What's up, everyone,
- 11:20Speaker 1: and welcome back to the program. The murders in Moscow
- 11:25Speaker 1: have changed a whole lot for the community at large,
- 11:28Speaker 1: and the investigation into those murders has proved to be
- 11:32Speaker 1: rather burdensome when it comes to the finances. So the
- 11:37Speaker 1: prosecution in Idaho has requested a pretty big budget hike
- 11:42Speaker 1: so that they can maintain their investigation and keep things rolling.
- 11:46Speaker 1: And any time that you're prosecuting a homicide case, it
- 11:49Speaker 1: is cost-restrictive, never mind a quadruple homicide in a place
- 11:54Speaker 1: that was homicide-free for seven years leading up to these murders.
- 11:59Speaker 1: So there's certainly not the budget sitting around to go
- 12:02Speaker 1: after somebody like Brian Kohlberger as far as an advanced
- 12:06Speaker 1: investigation that is as sophisticated as this one has been. So...
- 12:11Speaker 1: Let's get to this article from ABC News and let's
- 12:14Speaker 1: see just how cost-restrictive all of this has been. Headline,
- 12:19Speaker 1: Idaho College Murders Case Prompts Prosecution Request for Big Budget Hike.
- 12:25Speaker 1: The authors of this article are Sasha Pezenik, Julie Scott,
- 12:29Speaker 1: and Nicholas Cerrone.
- 12:32Speaker 2: Justice may be blind, but it's not cheap.
- 12:35Speaker 1: Yeah, you could say that twice when you're talking about
- 12:37Speaker 1: from the perspective of the person who's being charged with
- 12:40Speaker 1: the crime. never mind the cost for the state or
- 12:43Speaker 1: the prosecution, if you get charged with a crime and
- 12:46Speaker 1: you're going to pay for your own lawyer, you're going
- 12:48Speaker 1: to be looking at quite the hefty sum coming out
- 12:51Speaker 1: of pocket to defend your freedom. The legal system is
- 12:55Speaker 1: absolutely burdensome when it comes to finances. And unless you're
- 13:00Speaker 1: in a position where you have money to blow, having
- 13:03Speaker 1: to deal with litigation is never a fun time for
- 13:06Speaker 1: your bank account. Prosecutors in Moscow, Idaho this week said
- 13:10Speaker 1: the upcoming prosecution of Brian Kohlberger, the man charged with
- 13:14Speaker 1: killing four college students last fall, could cost more than
- 13:18Speaker 1: eight times their entire annual trial budget. Well, it doesn't
- 13:22Speaker 1: cost much to bring people in for a drunken disorderly.
- 13:26Speaker 1: It doesn't cost much to bring people in because they
- 13:29Speaker 1: have a bag of pot. And that's the kind of
- 13:31Speaker 1: thing you were seeing on this campus. It wasn't like
- 13:34Speaker 1: this is a violent campus where they're used to all
- 13:36Speaker 1: kinds of violent assault or murder or anything like that.
- 13:40Speaker 1: Besides the bar brawl or something, they weren't dealing with
- 13:43Speaker 1: any kind of real drama up in Moscow as far
- 13:47Speaker 1: as the police were concerned. And then all of a sudden,
- 13:50Speaker 1: four college students are killed overnight in the same house.
- 13:54Speaker 1: I'm sure a tragedy like that wasn't forecast when the
- 13:56Speaker 1: budget was being laid out. So now they have to
- 14:00Speaker 1: go back to the state and try and get a
- 14:02Speaker 1: little bit more money. Meeting with county commissioners Tuesday, Latah
- 14:06Speaker 1: County Prosecutor Bill Thompson requested a $ 135, 000 budget as his
- 14:12Speaker 1: team puts together what is expected to be a complicated
- 14:15Speaker 1: and high-profile case. Thompson said they know the trial is
- 14:20Speaker 1: not going to be cheap. According to the minutes from
- 14:23Speaker 1: the meeting obtained by ABC News, acknowledging the request, is
- 14:27Speaker 1: a significant departure from the $ 15, 000 budget they had maintained
- 14:32Speaker 1: for years and years. And remember everything that goes into
- 14:36Speaker 1: something like this. You have to pay for all of
- 14:39Speaker 1: the experts. You have to pay for the private investigators.
- 14:42Speaker 1: You have to pay the salary of the cops that
- 14:44Speaker 1: are working, the prosecutors. There's a lot that goes on here,
- 14:48Speaker 1: and none of it's free. Everybody has to be paid
- 14:51Speaker 1: for their work. So that money has to come from somewhere.
- 14:54Speaker 1: And that somewhere is the budget of the city of
- 14:57Speaker 1: Moscow and Latak County. Thompson said his office is trying
- 15:02Speaker 1: to keep its projected budget as conservative as possible, while
- 15:05Speaker 1: at the same time making sure that the case is
- 15:08Speaker 1: handled properly. Now imagine Brian Koberger was somebody who was
- 15:12Speaker 1: well off and could bring in a dream team where
- 15:15Speaker 1: he was paying his lawyers, you know, two grand an
- 15:17Speaker 1: hour or something like that. And this is the budget
- 15:20Speaker 1: that he'd be working against. a mere 135 grand, and
- 15:24Speaker 1: you wonder why rich people are able to get off.
- 15:26Speaker 1: Some of these rich people show up and they have
- 15:29Speaker 1: a bigger war chest to litigate the accusations against them
- 15:33Speaker 1: than the county that's prosecuting them. And we all know
- 15:37Speaker 1: that the bigger the war chest, the better the chance
- 15:40Speaker 1: of beating the charges. Thankfully here, that's not the case.
- 15:43Speaker 1: But I do find it a little concerning that they're
- 15:46Speaker 1: talking about maintaining budgetary constraints How about just investigating this
- 15:52Speaker 1: and then wherever that lands, that's how much money the
- 15:55Speaker 1: state has to come up with. Because you can't really
- 15:58Speaker 1: skimp when you're talking about a quadruple homicide investigation, right?
- 16:02Speaker 1: Where are you going to cut corners? How are you
- 16:04Speaker 1: going to be more conservative while at the same time
- 16:06Speaker 1: maintaining the integrity of the investigation? Among the anticipated expenses,
- 16:12Speaker 1: Thompson's budget request sites, witness travel fees, transcript fees, exhibit
- 16:18Speaker 1: display expenses and postage fees, as well as travel associated
- 16:22Speaker 1: with case development, expert witnesses and other associated trial expenses,
- 16:28Speaker 1: according to the budget request. And there's going to be more,
- 16:31Speaker 1: of course. So he has to have a war chest
- 16:34Speaker 1: and hopefully Latah County and the commissioners are going to
- 16:37Speaker 1: provide the prosecutor with everything that he needs to get
- 16:41Speaker 1: the conviction that they're going after. Thompson said his office
- 16:45Speaker 1: is also proposing to add a part-time legal assistant position
- 16:49Speaker 1: to the payroll in order to help shoulder the workload,
- 16:52Speaker 1: according to the meeting minutes.
- 16:54Speaker 2: I could see that.
- 16:55Speaker 1: Bring in somebody to help with the paperwork, filing, get
- 16:59Speaker 1: things in order, make sure everything's presented properly to the
- 17:03Speaker 1: lawyers so they don't have to waste their time, you know,
- 17:06Speaker 1: putting together files and all of that. So if you
- 17:08Speaker 1: need some help, then yeah, bring it in. One of
- 17:11Speaker 1: the commissioners on the board, Kathy LaFortune, suggested an even
- 17:15Speaker 1: larger allowance for Thompson's budget, according to meeting minutes, suggesting
- 17:19Speaker 1: an increase to $ 150, 000 in order to fully cover potential costs.
- 17:25Speaker 1: I think that's a good idea. Give them some wiggle room.
- 17:28Speaker 1: That way they can bring in experts and whatever they
- 17:31Speaker 1: need to do to make sure that justice is served here. Separately,
- 17:36Speaker 1: the defense has been augmenting its resources as well. Kohlberger's
- 17:41Speaker 1: lead counsel, the chief public defender in neighboring Kootenai County,
- 17:45Speaker 1: Ann Taylor, is receiving $ 200 an hour, an amount agreed
- 17:49Speaker 1: to by Latah County upon her hiring. Taylor's co-counsel is
- 17:54Speaker 1: receiving $ 180 an hour. Additional further expenses to the case
- 17:59Speaker 1: include hiring a private investigator and expert services to aid
- 18:03Speaker 1: their case. And remember, the state's on the line for
- 18:06Speaker 1: all of that, too. because Brian Koberger was considered indigent,
- 18:10Speaker 1: meaning he can't pay for his own legal team. So
- 18:13Speaker 1: the state has to pay for both ends of this. Koberger, 28,
- 18:18Speaker 1: was indicted last month and charged with four counts of
- 18:20Speaker 1: first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment
- 18:24Speaker 1: in late May, Koberger declined to offer a plea, so
- 18:27Speaker 1: the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
- 18:31Speaker 1: A trial date has been set for October 2nd, and
- 18:34Speaker 1: Koberger is currently being held... in the Latah County Jail
- 18:38Speaker 1: in Moscow. And I've said several times now, I really
- 18:41Speaker 1: don't expect this trial to start in October.
- 18:44Speaker 2: I would be absolutely shocked if this goes off as scheduled.
- 18:48Speaker 1: Considering what we have with Discovery and all of the
- 18:51Speaker 1: information that has to be poured through still, you would
- 18:54Speaker 1: think that the defense is certainly angling here to get
- 18:57Speaker 1: a postponement and to get this trial moved back probably.
- 19:01Speaker 2: To the summer of 2024. That's my.
- 19:05Speaker 1: Guess my speculation here. Prosecutors allege that in the early
- 19:10Speaker 1: morning hours of November 13th, 2022, Kohlberger, a criminology PhD
- 19:15Speaker 1: student at Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home
- 19:20Speaker 1: and stabbed to death four University of Idaho students, Ethan Chapin,
- 19:25Speaker 1: Madison Mogan, Zanna Kernodle, and Kaylee Gonsalves. After a more
- 19:30Speaker 1: than six-week hunt, police zeroed in on Kohlberger as a
- 19:33Speaker 1: suspect Tracking his white Hyundai Elantra, cell phone signal data,
- 19:38Speaker 1: and recovering what authorities say was his DNA on a
- 19:41Speaker 1: knife sheath found next to one of the victim's bodies,
- 19:45Speaker 1: according to court documents. He was arrested on December 30, 2022. 2022,
- 19:50Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania, after driving cross-country to spend the holidays at
- 19:54Speaker 1: his family's home in Albrightville. And there were reports that
- 19:58Speaker 1: his own sister thought that he might be the guy
- 20:01Speaker 1: who did this, and that his sister and other family
- 20:04Speaker 1: members even went out to the white Hyundai Elantra and
- 20:07Speaker 1: tossed the car themselves. And for my money, you have
- 20:10Speaker 1: to be a relatively odd duck for your family members,
- 20:13Speaker 1: your sister especially, to think that you're capable of doing
- 20:17Speaker 1: something like this. So all the people out there that
- 20:19Speaker 1: are defending Brian Koberger, acting like this guy's not guilty,
- 20:24Speaker 1: you're going to look real silly soon. And when I
- 20:26Speaker 1: say soon, I mean after this trial ends. just like
- 20:29Speaker 1: all of the knuckleheads out there that were running around
- 20:31Speaker 1: talking about Alec Murdaugh, was innocent. The problem is, there's
- 20:35Speaker 1: never any repercussions for these knuckleheads who run around talking nonsense,
- 20:39Speaker 1: because people still eat it up. People love the salacious bullshit.
- 20:43Speaker 1: People love a nice story that massages their confirmation bias. Me?
- 20:48Speaker 2: I prefer the truth.
- 20:50Speaker 1: The quadruple homicide in November rocked Moscow, Idaho, the college
- 20:54Speaker 1: town where the killings occurred. The ensuing investigation and impending
- 20:58Speaker 1: trial strained the city's already slim budget. Police overtime and
- 21:04Speaker 1: other expenses mounted exponentially with the ongoing need for increased
- 21:08Speaker 1: patrols and law enforcement work and shouldered by a short-staffed
- 21:13Speaker 1: force putting in long hours. The bottom line, officials said,
- 21:17Speaker 1: the ongoing cost of the case has burned through cash
- 21:20Speaker 1: that could have gone to benefit the community and fix
- 21:23Speaker 1: up the city's infrastructure. and I'm sure a few pet
- 21:26Speaker 1: projects for the city councilors as well. Moscow is not
- 21:31Speaker 1: awash in a funding excess, Moscow Mayor Art Betke told
- 21:35Speaker 1: ABC News in May. We run a very, very lean budget,
- 21:39Speaker 1: and the impact of an investigation has been felt on
- 21:42Speaker 1: that budget. Even with the suspect in custody, the ongoing
- 21:46Speaker 1: investigation had depleted Moscow's coffers and scrambled an already fragile
- 21:52Speaker 1: balance sheet, city officials said. You budget for fires, you
- 21:56Speaker 1: budget for floods, you prepare for natural disasters. This was
- 22:01Speaker 1: not natural. Moscow City Council member Sandra Kelly told ABC News,
- 22:06Speaker 1: The cost is astronomical. And, of course, you can't skimp
- 22:10Speaker 1: on keeping people safe. Yet, this is just not something
- 22:13Speaker 1: you budget for, because it's something you'd never dream could happen.
- 22:18Speaker 1: And especially in a place like Moscow. When you have
- 22:21Speaker 1: a place that hasn't even recorded a homicide in seven years,
- 22:26Speaker 1: the last thing you expect is something like this to happen.
- 22:29Speaker 1: So the city council and the budget planners, for once
- 22:33Speaker 1: in their lives at least, they didn't screw this up.
- 22:35Speaker 1: They just weren't ready for it because it's one of
- 22:38Speaker 1: those unthinkable, unimaginable events that you can never even dream
- 22:43Speaker 1: of happening. But now that it did happen, They have
- 22:46Speaker 1: to come up with the money to make sure that
- 22:48Speaker 1: the person that they say is responsible, Brian Koberger, faces justice.
- 22:54Speaker 1: And that's what the city council says they're going to do.
- 22:56Speaker 1: All right, everybody, that's going to do it for this one.
- 23:00Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with the episode can
- 23:02Speaker 1: be found in the description box. What's up, everyone, and
- 23:07Speaker 1: welcome back to the program. In this episode, we're going
- 23:11Speaker 1: to take a trip back to Moscow and we're going
- 23:13Speaker 1: to get an update on what's going on with Brian
- 23:16Speaker 1: Koberger and how much his alleged crimes have cost Idaho
- 23:21Speaker 1: University when it comes to security. But before we jump
- 23:25Speaker 1: into this article, we have a little housekeeping to do.
- 23:28Speaker 1: And that housekeeping has to do with Brian Koberger and
- 23:32Speaker 1: his court appearance that's scheduled for tomorrow. So let's just
- 23:36Speaker 1: read this quick court order by Judge Judge before we
- 23:39Speaker 1: dive into our article. Case number CR 29-22-2805. Order regarding
- 23:47Speaker 1: notice of hearing Zoom information. State of Idaho plaintiff, 1st
- 23:52Speaker 1: Brian C. Koberger, the defendant. The court is mindful that
- 23:56Speaker 1: limited courtroom capacity and potential travel restrictions may may interfere
- 24:01Speaker 1: with the victim's and the defendant's family's ability to observe
- 24:04Speaker 1: the court proceedings in this case on August 18, 2023,
- 24:08Speaker 1: at 10.30 a.m.
- 24:10Speaker 2: Pacific Time.
- 24:11Speaker 1: Therefore, in the eventuality that they are unable or prefer
- 24:15Speaker 1: not to attend the proceeding in person, the court finds
- 24:18Speaker 1: it necessary to make the court proceedings available via Zoom
- 24:22Speaker 1: for the victims and the defendant's immediate family members under
- 24:26Speaker 1: the following restrictions. It is hereby ordered that 1. The
- 24:30Speaker 1: victims and the defendant's immediate family members may observe the
- 24:33Speaker 1: court proceedings in person or via Zoom. 2. The Zoom
- 24:38Speaker 1: information above shall not be disseminated to anyone other than
- 24:42Speaker 1: the victims and the defendant's immediate family members. 3. Any
- 24:48Speaker 1: recording or live streaming of the proceeding is prohibited. This
- 24:52Speaker 1: was signed on the 14th of August and it was
- 24:55Speaker 1: signed by Judge Judge. And the reason for this hearing
- 24:59Speaker 1: is the defendant's third motion to compel and the defendant's
- 25:03Speaker 1: second motion to stay proceedings. So that's what's going to
- 25:07Speaker 1: be discussed at the hearing tomorrow. And it's going to
- 25:10Speaker 1: be very crucial for Brian Kohlberger and his team. There's
- 25:14Speaker 1: a lot on the line for his team tomorrow. And
- 25:16Speaker 1: I think that the judge is obviously going to deny
- 25:19Speaker 1: their request for a stay. Now, if they ask for
- 25:23Speaker 1: a continuation or a delay in the trial... not a stay,
- 25:27Speaker 1: but an actual delay, I think they'll get that. But
- 25:30Speaker 1: the stay here, I don't think that they have the
- 25:32Speaker 1: legal precedent or the basis under Idaho statutes. So I
- 25:38Speaker 1: don't see Judge Judge acquiescing and giving them that stay
- 25:42Speaker 1: that they want. because it's rather transparent that what they're
- 25:45Speaker 1: doing is trying to buy for some time. So just
- 25:48Speaker 1: delay the trial and be done with it already. And
- 25:50Speaker 1: I think that's what we'll see eventually happen here, a
- 25:53Speaker 1: delay in this trial, because there's just a massive amount
- 25:56Speaker 1: of evidence. All right, so let's dive into this article
- 25:59Speaker 1: from ABC News, and let's see how many fazools it
- 26:03Speaker 1: cost the University of Idaho for security. Headline, cost of
- 26:08Speaker 1: security prompted by Idaho college killings, tops $ 1. 2 million dollars,
- 26:13Speaker 1: for the university. That's a whole hell of a lot
- 26:15Speaker 1: of money, isn't it? And you know they're already charging
- 26:18Speaker 1: an arm and a leg for kids to go to
- 26:20Speaker 1: school up here. So what are they going to do?
- 26:23Speaker 1: Increase the cost of tuition? I mean, eventually that's what
- 26:26Speaker 1: we're going to see. This article was authored by Sasha Pezenik.
- 26:32Speaker 1: The financial cost of the community continued to climb in
- 26:36Speaker 1: the aftermath of the killing of four Idaho college students
- 26:39Speaker 1: last fall. Nine months after the King Road quadruple homicide,
- 26:44Speaker 1: Rock North Idaho, the University of Idaho, has already blown
- 26:48Speaker 1: through the $ 1 million in state funding allocated to support
- 26:53Speaker 1: additional security measures, according to records provided to Idaho's Legislative
- 26:58Speaker 1: Services Office by the university. And you would think a
- 27:02Speaker 1: million dollars goes a long way, but really, does it?
- 27:05Speaker 1: Think about how expensive everything is at the store. I
- 27:08Speaker 1: walked into the store last night, I grabbed some Luigi's
- 27:12Speaker 1: Italian Ices, a Gatorade Fast Twitch drink, one of those
- 27:17Speaker 1: energy drinks they have, an 8-pack of Gatorade, and two
- 27:22Speaker 1: cases of water. It came out to like $ 35. So
- 27:26Speaker 1: if basic groceries are costing that much money, and your
- 27:29Speaker 1: money's not stretching that far when it comes to basic necessities,
- 27:33Speaker 1: how far do you think it's going to stretch when
- 27:35Speaker 1: we're talking about security services? Especially with inflation. Everybody has
- 27:41Speaker 1: ramped up their prices for every single service. And if
- 27:44Speaker 1: you think those prices are coming down, I have some
- 27:47Speaker 1: real bad news for you. In a letter sent to
- 27:50Speaker 1: the office manager of budget and policy analysis, university president
- 27:54Speaker 1: Scott Green said, the school made significant efforts to bolster
- 27:58Speaker 1: our security programs and the custodianship of the location where
- 28:03Speaker 1: these tragedies occurred. Now, that's all fine and well, but
- 28:06Speaker 1: it's very reactionary. and I highly doubt that we're ever
- 28:09Speaker 1: going to see something like this in Idaho ever again.
- 28:13Speaker 2: Well, not in Moscow.
- 28:15Speaker 1: This is something that is very unexpected, an aberration when
- 28:19Speaker 1: it comes to crimes, and certainly something that I highly
- 28:23Speaker 1: doubt we're going to witness in a place like Moscow.
- 28:26Speaker 1: at least in any of our lifetimes, ever again. So
- 28:29Speaker 1: while I understand the knee-jerk reaction, you want to keep
- 28:32Speaker 1: the community safe, you want to make sure enrollment in
- 28:35Speaker 1: the school doesn't drop, but the sad truth is, even
- 28:39Speaker 1: if they had 100 Navy SEALs patrolling the campus doing security,
- 28:43Speaker 1: it wouldn't have stopped what happened in that house on
- 28:47Speaker 1: 1122 King Road in the early morning hours of November 13th.
- 28:51Speaker 1: University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogan, Zanna Kernodal,
- 28:55Speaker 1: and Kaylee Gonsalves were found stabbed to death on November 13, 2022.
- 29:01Speaker 1: After a six-week hunt, police zeroed in on a suspect,
- 29:05Speaker 1: arresting one-time doctoral candidate Brian Koberger on December 30. If convicted,
- 29:11Speaker 1: Koberger could face the death penalty. And they've also talked
- 29:14Speaker 1: about not only the death penalty, but firing squad. And
- 29:18Speaker 1: I say that's the way he should go. Because if
- 29:20Speaker 1: he's guilty of the crimes that he's accused of, they
- 29:23Speaker 1: are some of the most heinous crimes that we've seen
- 29:26Speaker 1: in quite some time. Somebody going into someone's home and
- 29:30Speaker 1: murdering four people in an intimate and up-close way like this?
- 29:34Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you deserve the death penalty. And all things considered,
- 29:39Speaker 1: both options... the firing squad and the lethal injection, are
- 29:43Speaker 1: both too good for somebody like Brian Koberger if he
- 29:46Speaker 1: is guilty of these crimes. I'm talking about helicopters and volcanoes.
- 29:52Speaker 1: The university is already racking up additional expenses and totaling
- 29:56Speaker 1: more than $ 1. 2 million so far and counting. The expenditures
- 30:02Speaker 1: related to the King Road house are ongoing, Green said
- 30:05Speaker 1: in the letter. The August 11th letter includes an itemized
- 30:09Speaker 1: accounting of how the cash was spent required by Idaho law.
- 30:14Speaker 1: Nearly $ 475, 000 was spent to increase campus security and private guards.
- 30:16Speaker 1: More than $ 324, 000 went to security consultants. More than $ 241, 000
- 30:27Speaker 1: was spent on the Idaho State Police, including meals and
- 30:31Speaker 1: lodging for troopers. Does that seem excessive to anybody else? $ 324, 000
- 30:37Speaker 1: to security consultants? What are they consulting about? Like, what
- 30:42Speaker 1: could you possibly do that would have made this campus
- 30:45Speaker 1: any safer? I don't think any security protocol or any
- 30:49Speaker 1: security measures would have stopped Brian Kohlberger from doing what
- 30:53Speaker 1: he is alleged to have done. And as I said previously,
- 30:56Speaker 1: I find this to be a bit reactionary and just
- 30:59Speaker 1: looking for a way to justify spending this money. Prosecutors
- 31:03Speaker 1: allege that in the early morning hours of November 13th, 2022, Kohlberger,
- 31:09Speaker 1: a criminology PhD student at nearby Washington State University, broke
- 31:14Speaker 1: into the off-campus home, and stabbed the four students to death.
- 31:18Speaker 1: Kohlberger was indicted in May and charged with four counts
- 31:22Speaker 1: of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment,
- 31:26Speaker 1: he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered
- 31:29Speaker 1: a not guilty plea on his behalf. A trial is
- 31:33Speaker 1: scheduled for October 2nd, though a delay is likely. pretrial
- 31:38Speaker 1: motions are set to continue on Friday. And that's what
- 31:41Speaker 1: we talked about in the beginning here. He has a
- 31:44Speaker 1: hearing tomorrow, and it's going to be a pretty important
- 31:46Speaker 1: hearing for both sides. And I'm very interested to see
- 31:49Speaker 1: which way Judge Judge is leaning. The university has and
- 31:54Speaker 1: continues to put its students first. The expenses we have
- 31:58Speaker 1: incurred are in effort to provide for our students the
- 32:02Speaker 1: best residential campus experience possible, University of Idaho spokesperson Jody
- 32:07Speaker 1: Walker said in a statement to ABC News. While we
- 32:10Speaker 1: can't bring back the students we lost so tragically, we
- 32:14Speaker 1: can continue to improve ourselves and our university for our
- 32:18Speaker 1: current students and all those to follow, Walker said. We
- 32:22Speaker 1: appreciate the support we have gotten from the governor and
- 32:25Speaker 1: our legislature to help cover some of these problems. unexpected expenses.
- 32:30Speaker 1: Nearly $ 100, 000 has been spent on security for the home
- 32:34Speaker 1: where the students were slain. The home, donated to the
- 32:38Speaker 1: school after the killings, remains standing for now, though the
- 32:42Speaker 1: university has announced that it intends to demolish it. We
- 32:47Speaker 1: expect further expenditures in the future as we demolish the
- 32:51Speaker 1: King Road property, Green said, with the letter accounting for
- 32:54Speaker 1: more than $ 217, 000 in They estimate spending through the end
- 33:00Speaker 1: of October. The mounting price tag has not been shouldered
- 33:04Speaker 1: solely by the university. In June, prosecutors leading the case
- 33:08Speaker 1: against Kohlberger said it cost them more than eight times
- 33:12Speaker 1: their annual trial budget, requesting $ 135, 000 for the case.
- 33:18Speaker 2: Look, this is an extreme circumstance. And this is an
- 33:21Speaker 2: extreme case.
- 33:23Speaker 1: And it's going to cost a lot of money for
- 33:25Speaker 1: all of the experts, all of the testing, and all
- 33:28Speaker 1: that comes along with a quadruple homicide trial. So it's
- 33:33Speaker 1: going to cost the state of Idaho a few bucks here.
- 33:35Speaker 1: And remember, they're also on the hook for paying for
- 33:37Speaker 1: Brian Koberger's team as well. In Moscow, where the killings occurred,
- 33:43Speaker 1: investigative costs burned through cash that could have gone to
- 33:46Speaker 1: fix up city infrastructure, Moscow officials told ABC News in May.
- 33:52Speaker 1: This is just not something you budget for, Moscow City
- 33:55Speaker 1: Council member Sandra Kelly said, because it's something you'd never
- 33:59Speaker 1: dream could happen. So as much as I'd like to
- 34:02Speaker 1: pin it on the local authorities here, you know, the
- 34:05Speaker 1: local politicians, she's not wrong. Nobody budgets for something like this,
- 34:10Speaker 1: and we're talking about a pretty small place in Moscow.
- 34:13Speaker 1: So there was never any doubt that there was going
- 34:15Speaker 1: to be some budget issues, and thankfully for them, the
- 34:18Speaker 1: state itself, the governor, has stepped up to help out.
- 34:22Speaker 1: The question is, how much more does it cost from here?
- 34:25Speaker 1: All right, everybody, that's going to do it for this one.
- 34:29Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with this episode can
- 34:31Speaker 1: be found in the description box. What's up, everyone, and
- 34:36Speaker 1: welcome back to the program. Earlier, we were talking about
- 34:42Speaker 1: the salary that Ann Taylor, the public defender for Brian Koberger,
- 34:47Speaker 1: was going to make. Well, today we're getting some more
- 34:50Speaker 1: details and some more context about that salary and how
- 34:54Speaker 1: much it's all going to end up being when all
- 34:56Speaker 1: is said and done. And I thought it would be
- 34:58Speaker 1: interesting considering we just got done talking about the budget
- 35:02Speaker 1: for the entire Idaho State Police Department and for the investigation.
- 35:08Speaker 1: into who murdered these four students. So with that said,
- 35:12Speaker 1: let's dive into this article from the Daily Mail, and
- 35:15Speaker 1: let's get a little more context about the salary that
- 35:19Speaker 1: Ann Taylor, the public defender, is going to be making. Headline,
- 35:25Speaker 1: Idaho murder suspect Brian Koberger's lawyer will triple her income
- 35:30Speaker 1: with $ 200 an hour agreement to defend them. On the
- 35:34Speaker 1: taxpayer's dime, despite multiple conflicts of interest, With students, families.
- 35:40Speaker 1: And we didn't even touch on that on the other
- 35:43Speaker 1: episode talking about the conflict of interest or the possible
- 35:47Speaker 1: conflict of interest. And I think that looms large as well.
- 35:52Speaker 1: Is there not going to be any sort of addressing
- 35:56Speaker 1: of the possible conflict of interest by the court? Or
- 36:00Speaker 1: has it been addressed in private and is just being
- 36:02Speaker 1: kept under wraps due to the gag order? Either way,
- 36:06Speaker 1: that needs to be addressed and some clarity needs to
- 36:09Speaker 1: be given. This article was authored by Emma Jones. A
- 36:16Speaker 1: lawyer defending suspected quadruple killer Brian Koberger will be paid
- 36:21Speaker 1: $ 200 an hour in his case with any additional overtime.
- 36:25Speaker 1: Chief Public Defender Ann Taylor said, will be paid by
- 36:28Speaker 1: Kootenai County for a 40-hour work week with Latah County
- 36:32Speaker 1: agreeing to give the funds to Kootenai for her work.
- 36:36Speaker 1: But any overtime that she accrues outside of those hours
- 36:40Speaker 1: will be paid by Latah County directly to the attorney
- 36:44Speaker 1: with a second attorney supporting Taylor in the case being
- 36:48Speaker 1: paid $ 180 an hour. And when we talked about this yesterday,
- 36:54Speaker 1: I didn't have the information that I have today as
- 36:56Speaker 1: far as what the budget was for the whole ass
- 36:59Speaker 1: Idaho State Police Department.
- 37:01Speaker 2: We're talking about like $ 2 million.
- 37:03Speaker 1: And when all said and done here, Ann Taylor is
- 37:06Speaker 1: looking at making about $ 416, 000. That seems a bit much
- 37:12Speaker 1: if you're asking me. And I wonder, does every single
- 37:16Speaker 1: person who is charged with murder, that is a capital offense,
- 37:20Speaker 1: do they get the same kind of hookup? Are they
- 37:22Speaker 1: going to have the same kind of lawyer? And are
- 37:25Speaker 1: the citizens going to be on the hook for that
- 37:28Speaker 1: kind of dough. Because that would seem like the kind
- 37:31Speaker 1: of money you'd be paying to a private attorney, right?
- 37:36Speaker 1: Taylor is representing the 28-year-old criminal justice major after stepping
- 37:40Speaker 1: down as the lawyer for Kara Northington, the mother of
- 37:43Speaker 1: murdered Zanna Kernodle. Well, I'll tell you what, if you're
- 37:47Speaker 1: going to make this kind of dough representing Brian Kohlberger,
- 37:50Speaker 1: why wouldn't you step down? I mean, if you're looking
- 37:53Speaker 1: at it from that perspective of trying to secure that bag,
- 37:57Speaker 1: and not being morally correct, well, this is the pathway
- 38:00Speaker 1: you're going to go. And then, of course, what they'll
- 38:03Speaker 1: say is she's the only attorney in northern Idaho that
- 38:07Speaker 1: works for the public defender's office that can handle a
- 38:10Speaker 1: capital punishment kind of case. My counter to that would
- 38:14Speaker 1: be why not bring in a different attorney from somewhere
- 38:18Speaker 1: else in the state? If you're going to be paying
- 38:20Speaker 1: this kind of dough, I mean, you might as well
- 38:22Speaker 1: go all the way and bring a different attorney in
- 38:25Speaker 1: from the south She was in charge of her case
- 38:28Speaker 1: until January 5th, the same day that Kohlberger was extradited
- 38:33Speaker 1: from his home in Pennsylvania to Idaho. The lawyer is
- 38:37Speaker 1: also accused of a second conflict of interest in the
- 38:39Speaker 1: case after it was revealed that she represented Maddie Mogan's stepmother,
- 38:44Speaker 1: Corey Hatrock, in June 2022 and oversaw a case involving
- 38:49Speaker 1: her father, Benjamin, in 2020.
- 38:52Speaker 2: Kohlberger is accused.
- 38:53Speaker 1: Of murdering Mogan and Kernodle on November 13th along with
- 38:58Speaker 1: Kaylee Gonsalves and Ethan Chapin. Experts previously told DailyMail.com that
- 39:05Speaker 1: they would be surprised if there was no one else
- 39:08Speaker 1: that could represent Kohlberger in the case, despite the small
- 39:11Speaker 1: pool of lawyers in Idaho.
- 39:13Speaker 2: And that's what I said.
- 39:14Speaker 1: I'm certainly not an expert, but there's a lot of
- 39:17Speaker 1: lawyers in Idaho, relatively speaking, and I'm sure you can
- 39:20Speaker 1: bring one up from the South. The law is not
- 39:23Speaker 1: different in South Idaho than Northern Idaho, is it? They're
- 39:28Speaker 1: all guided by the same rules. so why not just
- 39:31Speaker 1: bring one of those lawyers up or someone in from, like, Boise,
- 39:34Speaker 1: where they have extra lawyers? In 2021, Taylor earned $ 118, 866,
- 39:37Speaker 1: but based on her $ 200 an hour pay to represent Kohlberger,
- 39:47Speaker 1: she would get $ 416, 000 a year.
- 39:51Speaker 2: So that's quite the raise, huh?
- 39:54Speaker 1: And again, this is information that we didn't have yesterday
- 39:57Speaker 1: when we were talking about this topic. So whenever I
- 40:00Speaker 1: can fill in some context or put some meat on
- 40:02Speaker 1: the bone, I love to do that. That way we're armed, right?
- 40:05Speaker 1: And we're not only getting half of the information. Presentation
- 40:09Speaker 1: of evidence in the case has been predicted to last
- 40:13Speaker 1: five days in June with an average of eight hours
- 40:16Speaker 1: in court meaning that Taylor and her team could earn
- 40:19Speaker 1: more than $ 3, 000 a day. In total, they would get $ 15, 200
- 40:25Speaker 1: per week without overtime, as well as being reimbursed for mileage, lodging,
- 40:30Speaker 1: and meal costs. And remember, this money isn't just materializing
- 40:34Speaker 1: out of the sky. These are taxpayer dollars. And the
- 40:39Speaker 1: commissioners and everybody else who's in charge of the budget,
- 40:42Speaker 1: they're going to have to go in and reevaluate now
- 40:45Speaker 1: and figure it all out. Any investigators working on her
- 40:50Speaker 1: behalf will be compensated at a rate of $ 45 an hour,
- 40:55Speaker 1: according to the agreement, which was approved on Tuesday. According
- 40:59Speaker 1: to the American Bar Association, the average hourly pay for
- 41:04Speaker 1: capital punishment attorneys in 2007 was $ 100, which equates to
- 41:06Speaker 1: around $ 141 in 2023 with inflation, meaning Taylor is being
- 41:09Speaker 1: paid above average.
- 41:18Speaker 2: For the case.
- 41:19Speaker 1: And for me, I think that one of the most
- 41:21Speaker 1: important things here to ask is, does everybody else get
- 41:25Speaker 1: the same treatment that Brian Koberger is getting if they're
- 41:28Speaker 1: charged with murder as well? And if so, where's this
- 41:31Speaker 1: budget going to come from in Idaho to continuously be
- 41:35Speaker 1: doing this sort of thing at this crazy price? Because
- 41:40Speaker 1: I don't know how they'd be able to maintain doing
- 41:42Speaker 1: this kind of defense from the public defender's office. I've
- 41:47Speaker 1: never heard of anything like it, to be honest with you.
- 41:51Speaker 1: Taylor is just one of 13 public defenders in Idaho
- 41:54Speaker 1: approved by the state's public defense commission to lead a
- 41:58Speaker 1: capital punishment case and the only one in all of
- 42:02Speaker 1: North Idaho. That's something that they should change. You got
- 42:05Speaker 1: to have more than one person who could do the job.
- 42:08Speaker 1: What if something was wrong with Ann Taylor? What if
- 42:10Speaker 1: she was sick or what if she got in a
- 42:12Speaker 1: car accident or insert tragedy here? Latah County does not
- 42:18Speaker 1: have a public defender who is qualified to represent suspects
- 42:22Speaker 1: in capital cases, but they wanted to ensure they had
- 42:26Speaker 1: a team of attorneys who can represent in death penalty cases.
- 42:30Speaker 1: It could indicate that the prosecutors are leaning towards pursuing
- 42:34Speaker 1: the death penalty with the payment for that kind of
- 42:37Speaker 1: representation discussed in the agreement.
- 42:41Speaker 2: Idaho also has.
- 42:42Speaker 1: A voluntary capital crimes defense fund, which requires specific criteria,
- 42:47Speaker 1: including a prosecutor declaring they will seek the death penalty
- 42:51Speaker 1: within 30 days of the defendant entering the plea. So
- 42:55Speaker 1: we know that that won't happen until June. So at
- 42:59Speaker 1: that point, the clock will be ticking. The prosecution will
- 43:03Speaker 1: have 30 days from the time that Brian Koberger enters
- 43:06Speaker 1: his plea until And then once that 30 days is up,
- 43:10Speaker 1: they have to let the defendant and the state know
- 43:13Speaker 1: if they plan on pursuing the death penalty. Kohlberger is
- 43:17Speaker 1: expected to enter a plea on June 26, around the
- 43:21Speaker 1: same time as the presentation of evidence. So Latah County
- 43:25Speaker 1: has until the end of July to officially pursue the
- 43:28Speaker 1: death penalty. He is charged with four counts of murder
- 43:32Speaker 1: and one count of felony burglary and waived his right.
- 43:35Speaker 2: To a speedy.
- 43:36Speaker 1: Preliminary hearing in January. Kara Northington previously slammed Taylor for
- 43:42Speaker 1: dropping her case to represent Kohlberger, saying she was heartbroken
- 43:46Speaker 1: to be silently dropped. When she represented Ben Mogan, he
- 43:50Speaker 1: was sentenced to 90 days in prison after pleading guilty
- 43:53Speaker 1: to charges in 2020, and Maddie's stepmother pleaded guilty to
- 43:57Speaker 1: possession of an illegal substance, but it's unclear if she
- 44:01Speaker 1: served any prison time. And it's very, very typical to
- 44:05Speaker 1: see these kinds of low-end drug offenses ending up with
- 44:09Speaker 1: the person who is being charged with the offense pleading guilty.
- 44:13Speaker 1: A lot of times the courts will be easier on
- 44:15Speaker 1: them that way, and a lot of times they'll be
- 44:17Speaker 1: able to avoid jail time. A legal expert previously called
- 44:22Speaker 1: for Taylor to recuse herself from the Koberger case as
- 44:26Speaker 1: he believes it could result in the suspected killer appealing
- 44:30Speaker 1: any result which he has found guilty. And I've said
- 44:33Speaker 1: this too. I've said this a hundred times now, and
- 44:36Speaker 1: I guess he can sign a waiver or whatever, but
- 44:38Speaker 1: do you really think he's not going to challenge that
- 44:40Speaker 1: if he does? 100% he's going to. California appellate and
- 44:45Speaker 1: litigation lawyer Matthew Barhoma told DailyMail.com that Taylor seems to
- 44:50Speaker 1: want to work on the case with Koberger, describing it
- 44:54Speaker 1: as an odd and unique situation. He said Taylor had
- 44:58Speaker 1: many prior dealings with the mother on multiple occasions, and
- 45:02Speaker 1: that heightens the conflict. You have to assume she received
- 45:05Speaker 1: no confidential information from the mother that could be bled
- 45:09Speaker 1: into the case. And then you have to question if
- 45:13Speaker 1: you can do the job impartially and it could affect
- 45:16Speaker 1: Brian and his situation with the attorney. It is an
- 45:21Speaker 1: inherently difficult issue with no clear-cut answer and it is
- 45:25Speaker 1: a gray area. However, if it were me, I would
- 45:28Speaker 1: recuse myself from the case. Now, there is some more
- 45:32Speaker 1: to this article. But it's just rehashing stuff that we've
- 45:35Speaker 1: talked about plenty of times here about like the search
- 45:38Speaker 1: warrant and stuff like that. So for our purposes, we're
- 45:41Speaker 1: going to end the article here. But I thought it
- 45:43Speaker 1: was interesting to get some of these other additions added
- 45:47Speaker 1: to the catalog as far as her pay, what her
- 45:51Speaker 1: regular salary was before this, and any of the other
- 45:54Speaker 1: details that might have been missed in that other episode.
- 45:58Speaker 1: So that's going to do it for this one. And
- 46:00Speaker 1: all of the information that goes along with this episode
- 46:03Speaker 1: can be found in the description box.