Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Bryan Kohberger Says He Was Pressured Into a Plea He Did Not Fully Understand (9/24/26)

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Bryan Kohberger Says He Was Pressured Into a Plea He Did Not Fully Understand (9/24/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. So
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Brian Kohlberger and his new lawyer, they say that he
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: had no idea what was going on when he took
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the plea and that he didn't understand the situation that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: he was facing. And I reject that directly on its face.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: You mean to tell me that a dude that was
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: going for his PhD to become a criminal profiler had
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: no idea what he was doing? Had no clue? the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: kind of plea he was accepting, or what he was
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: getting himself into. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't cut
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the mustard, if you will. And I don't believe that
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: at all. What I think happened is that Brian Kohlberger
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: is now suffering from buyer's remorse. And now that he's
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: had some time to think about it, as he's been
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: rotting away in that jail cell, he wants another crack
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: at the case. That's what it comes down to. And
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned... If he was able to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: process everything in school and get to a point where
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: he was a TA and about to get his PhD,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: you really mean to tell me that he had no
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: idea what the plea deal meant? Sorry, I'm not buying it.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: But let's see what him and his lawyer have to say.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: And to do that, we have an article from the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: New York Post. Headline, Brian Kohlberger didn't understand what he
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: was doing when he pleaded guilty. This article was authored
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: by Michael Ruiz. Brian Koberger's former attorneys told an Idaho
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: judge before his plea deal that their client struggled to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: rationally understand what was unfolding in court and to make
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: consequential decisions concerning his case, including whether to testify in
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: his own defense or to accept a plea deal according
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to newly unsealed court filings. So that's it? That's their evidence?
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Remember when I told you that I'm willing to look
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: at evidence if they have some? This is not evidence.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: This is a loophole and a technicality. And that shit
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: might work up in Massachusetts, you know, with the Karen
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Reid people and with Lindsey Clancy. But that shit is
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: not going to work in Idaho. And I'm telling you
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: right now, if people try their nonsense in Idaho, I
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: think it'll have the opposite effect as to what they're
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: looking to do. And that obviously is to tank the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: jury pool. And that's going to be the defense here.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: That's what they're going to try and do. Mark my words.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: We're already starting to see it. Oh, let's leak some
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: autopsy photos. Is that the other thing? The memo is
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: pretty clear that there's some serious issue there that shows
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: different reasons why that plea might not have been accepted.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Kohlberger's new attorney, Greg Rauch, told Fox News Digital those
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: issues have to be flushed out and explored. All right, folks.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: So obviously they don't have new evidence. What they're doing
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: is going after the process. And what do I always
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: tell you about loopholes and technicalities? If that's what you're
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: relying on and that's all you have, I'm sorry, but
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: not really too convincing, especially considering the evidence that we've
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: seen against you. Although the memo's Tuesday release appeared to
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: have surprised him, he said he initially filed it under seal,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: out of an abundance of caution, and to avoid running
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: afoul of previous orders in the case. Kohlberger, a 31-year-old
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: former criminology PhD student, is serving four consecutive sentences of
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus another
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: 10 years. A PhD student who was, from all accounts,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: pretty intelligent guy, had no problem keeping his grades up,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: had no problem taking tests, had no problem writing essays.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: But now he has a problem because he didn't understand
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the plea. We're not talking about some indigent person here,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: somebody that's not educated, somebody that doesn't know the criminal
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: justice system. We're talking about the opposite. And the fact
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: that anybody's going to fall for this shit is hilarious.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Rausch was assigned... to his case over the summer and
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: did not represent him as it initially played out. In
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: the May 2025 ex parte supplement, counsel advised the court
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: that Kohlberger was having difficulty comprehending adverse rulings and discerning
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: their effect upon the case as a whole. The newly
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: published memo reads, Oh, poor guy. Didn't understand what was
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: coming his way. And don't you know that Brian Kohlberger's
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: the real victim here? Save that shit. Counselor represented that
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the accumulation of significant rulings concerning the death penalty, suppression issues,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: and motions in limine, Koberger was having difficulty meaningfully incorporating
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: those developments into a rational assessment of the case and
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: its potential outcomes. Oh please, he knew what the outcomes were.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Either life in prison or the death penalty. That's it.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Those were the two roads, and he made his choice.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And now, as far as I'm concerned, his bitch ass
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: has to live with it. In the memo, which was
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: filed under seal in support of a prior motion to
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: disqualify the judge, Rauch described his goal as to not
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: show Kohlberger was incompetent, but to bolster his argument that
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the judge may be biased. Dead on arrival. That's the argument?
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: That's what you're going to try and use? Good luck. Now,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: if you want to see a case where there might
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: have been some screw-ups and there might be some government malfeasance,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I would suggest you go take a trip down to
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Delphi and look at what's going on with Richard Allen.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: That's a case that needs to be looked at, not
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: this one. And I'm sorry if that hurts people's feelings,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: but I've been following this shit from day one. We've
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: been through like every single court document that was ever released,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: every bit of evidence, every rabbit hole. And when you
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: look at all the evidence that's been provided, all roads
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: lead to one person. And that person is Brian Koberger.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: So unless he has some evidence, real evidence, I don't
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: want to hear about the process. Before June 26, 2025,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the court knew that counsel was asking for additional time
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: not only to review evidence and continue investigation, but also
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: to investigate Kohlberger's ability to rationally understand and make consequential
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: decisions and to obtain expert assistance in communicating with him
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: about whether to resolve the case short of trial. Rausch
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: wrote to the court in a document that remained sealed
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: for nearly a month. And unlike that weird-ass place of Massachusetts...
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: You can't use insanity as a defense in Idaho. That
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: just doesn't work in Idaho, according to local rules. Just
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: ask Lori Vallow's crazy ass. So for all the wine
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: moms and cat ants out there, just make sure you
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: understand what the local rules are before you bring your
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: nonsense into this case. Koberger's original defense team sought more
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: time for an inquiry into his ability to understand the proceedings,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: but expressly denied that he was incompetent. How could he
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: be incompetent, okay? Again, the record doesn't show that. The
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: record shows that he was a pretty high-performing student, somebody
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: that was well thought of by his teachers, and somebody
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: that was on his way to a PhD. So how
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: do you square that circle? The answer is, you don't.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Because it's not logical. Judge Stephen Hippler on Tuesday ordered
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the August 27th memo to be unsealed after rejecting Kohlberger's
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: reasoning for keeping the document withheld from the public. Good
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: for Judge Hipler. The court disagrees that the information contained
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: in the supplemental memorandum is intimate, protected, or will result
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: in harm if disclosed, Hipler wrote. It simply describes, in
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: very general terms, trial counsel's concern about petitioners' difficulty in
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: comprehending adverse rulings and understanding their effect on the outcome
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: of the case. Well, here's an idea. Don't murder four
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: people in their home. Then you don't have to worry
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: about any of it. Or maybe go to Massachusetts and
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: do it. probably have a better chance to get away
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: with it there. Koberger's former defense team, led by Ann Taylor,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: had sought more time for discovery as his trial approached
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: last year. How much more time do we need? I mean,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: come on. We're talking about going on three years from
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: the time of the murder to the time of the proceeding.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: How much more time do you need to figure it
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: all out? The court thereafter denied the requested additional time,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Rauch wrote. The sealed June 26 order rejected the need
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: for further investigation and and concluded overall that Kohlberger had
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: not demonstrated good cause for a continuance or prejudice from
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: proceeding to trial as scheduled. Well, that's because there was
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: no good cause, okay? This man should have been on
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: trial before all of that. But I was willing to
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: give him as much time as the court was willing
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: to provide, right? But finally the road ran out, and
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: at some point, it's time to face the music. In
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: under a week, Koberger pleaded guilty to all charges in
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: the murders of University of Idaho student Kaylee Gonsalves, Madison Mogan,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Zanna Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. He's now trying to undo
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: the plea with a petition for post-conviction relief. That sequence
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: does not establish that the pleas were constitutionally invalid, Rauch wrote,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: but it does identify a factual issue that the PCR
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: court may now have to resolve whether trial counsel had
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: sufficient time and assistance to ensure that Koberger rationally understood
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: the circumstances confronting him, and could meaningfully participate in the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: decision to resolve the case short of trial. The very
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: decision counsel had specifically identified to Judge Hippler as requiring
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: continued expert assistance before the continuance was denied. Oh, poor
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: baby didn't get his way. Brian Kohlberger didn't get the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: motion he wanted. So obviously the judge is biased, right?
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: That's what that means. Are these people for real? Do
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: they think everybody just showed up recently from a coma?
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and started following along? Because look, like I told you,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I'm willing to look at new evidence, actual substantive evidence,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: not some bullshit ass narrative that's being built by a
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: lawyer who's trying to get his client a new trial.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Because none of it hits. None of this is enough,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, for Brian Kohlberger to get a new trial.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you remember the controversy with Scotty David,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: juror number 50 during the Glenn Maxwell trial? I mean,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: he had to come before Judge Nathan. He had to be,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: you know, questioned the whole thing. And how did that
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: end up for Glenn Maxwell? So why does anybody think
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: that Brian Kohlberger is is going to get the benefit
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: of the doubt here, especially in a place like Idaho.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: So we'll have to see what comes down the pipe here,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and we'll have to see what rulings were made in
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the coming days and weeks. But as of right now,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: if this is all they have, and the only evidence
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: that they're going to provide is that it was technically unconstitutional,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to get to a place
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: where they want to get to. But as always, we'll
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: keep an eye on it, and when we have some
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: more information to share, we'll get it added All the
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the description box.