Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Murder In Moscow: Judge Hippler Sets the Framework for Bryan Kohberger’s Guilty Plea Challenge (8/28/26)

Transcript

Murder In Moscow: Judge Hippler Sets the Framework for Bryan Kohberger’s Guilty Plea Challenge (8/28/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. In
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to spin back up the Moscow
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: and we're going to check in on the latest developments
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in Brian Koberger's push for a new trial. And now,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Judge Hippler has put a date on the calendar for
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: an evidentiary hearing to see if this should go forward.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: And of course, Judge Hippler is not playing games and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: has a strict outline for what's going to be used
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: as evidence and what will not be admissible. So today
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: we have an article from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: which was originally posted by the Associated Press, and just
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: being hosted over here at Pioneer. And the headline, A
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: June date on the calendar, but no hearing yet for
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Brian Kohlberger's plea challenge. This article was authored by Rebecca Boone.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: An Idaho judge has set the timeline for Brian Kohlberger's
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the murder of
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: four University of Idaho students, and he's warning attorneys on
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: both sides that he will hold any new evidence in
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: the case to a strict legal standard, as he should. Look,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: if there's evidence, let's see it. Like I've always told you,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I'm willing to follow the evidence wherever it goes. And
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: if Brian Kohlberger has a compelling case, I'm more than
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: willing to look at what he has. The problem is,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: I think he's bullshitting. And I don't think he has anything.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: because I don't think that his lawyers coerced him into
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: any of this. Are we going to act like Ann
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Taylor isn't a great lawyer? Is that really what we're
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: going to do? Because anybody saying that is bullshitting. Ann
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Taylor jumped through hoops for this dude. I'm talking every
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: motion you can imagine, every stalling tactic under the sun,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: and everything that she's capable of doing was done. Brought
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: in every expert, brought in every person that could have
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: helped Brian Kohlberger. And after all of that, after all
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: of the evidence that was given to them, her and
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Massoth and the rest of the team, they knew that
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Kohlberger was cooked. That's why he accepted the plea deal.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Not because he was coerced, and not because he was forced.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: At least in my opinion. Now if he has evidence
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: that proves otherwise, again, I am more than willing to
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: see it. Fourth District Judge Stephen Hippler who sentenced Kohlberger
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: to life in prison without parole after Kohlberger pleaded guilty
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: to the murder last year, set out the guidelines for
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: how the case will proceed in a written order Wednesday morning.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: The judge did not grant Kohlberger a hearing on his
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: claims that his guilty plea should be withdrawn. Instead, Hipler
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: scheduled the date for next June in case he determines
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: an evidentiary hearing is warranted. So they're going to have
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: to provide him with some evidence leading up to this.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: And there's going to be some conferences and phone calls, etc.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And keep in mind, just because Kohlberger is asking for this,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean he's going to get it. Now, it doesn't
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: mean he won't get it either, right? That's why we're
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: talking about it. But I think the odds are stacked
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: against him. And I think he has a very, very
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: high mountain to climb if he wants to get a
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: new trial. Kohlberger, 31, is serving four consecutive life sentences
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: for the murder of Kaylee Gonsalves, Ethan Chapin, Zanna Kernodel,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: and Madison Mogan. in a rental home near the Moscow,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Idaho campus in 2022. In exchange for his guilty plea,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. Big mistake.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: This man should have been given the death penalty. Should
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: have went through the trial, and I think if they
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: did that, there would have been enough to convict him,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: and then after that conviction, obviously, string this motherfucker up.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, what are we even doing here? Look, I'm
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: not a big fan of the death penalty by any
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: stretch of the imagination, but if it's on the books,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: then it should be used. And if the people of
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Idaho have voted for it, well, who am I to
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: tell them what to do? You want to talk about sovereignty?
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: There it is. I don't want people in Idaho telling
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: me what I can do in my state. So if
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: they've decided that the death penalty is something they want
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: to pursue, then that's what they should do. And frankly,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: if anybody's going to get the death penalty... Some bitch-ass
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: coward who sneaks into some house and stabs some kids
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: while they're sleeping should certainly be one of the top candidates.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Kohlberger filed a handwritten petition last month asking the court
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to let him take back his plea, saying his attorneys
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: manipulated him into making the deal by promising him better
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: prison conditions and scaring him about the quality of life
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: on death row. Oh, give me a fucking break, dude. Oh, well,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: they told me that things would be rough for me. Yeah,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: no shit, stupid. You're in prison. Okay? What do you
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: think it is? You're lucky you're not in California. And frankly,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: they should take this motherfucker out of protective custody. Drop
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: his ass on the main line and let's see what's up.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I have a funny feeling he wouldn't be as tough.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Kohlberger offered only a few details and elaboration, saying they
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: failed to disclose or review evidence that might have helped
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: his case during plea discussions. Kohlberger has since been appointed
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: a new attorney, Greg Rausch, who said he couldn't immediately
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: comment on the case. Yeah, he doesn't know enough yet.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: And he's not going to say anything that could, you know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: stunt the chances of Kohlberger maybe getting a new trial.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: So he's going to be quiet. And probably for the best.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: What exactly are you going to say? This quadruple murderer
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: wasn't treated correctly? He wasn't treated fairly? After it took over, what,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: three years to get to the point we got to?
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Only for him to plead guilty at the 11th hour?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But sure, Brian Koberger wasn't treated correctly, wasn't treated fairly,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: had his constitutional rights stepped on. Meanwhile, we got four
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: dead fucking kids, okay? Let's talk about that. In Wednesday's order,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Hipler told prosecutors and Koberger's attorney that they must strictly
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: adhere to the Idaho Rules of Court procedure, particularly the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: sections detailing what evidence is admissible in court. The judge
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: also detailed how both sides should not object to evidence
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that they feel is not admissible. So basically, Judge Hippler
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: is just setting the tone, right? This is what we're
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: going to do. This is what we're not going to do.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: This is acceptable. This is not acceptable. And hopefully they comply.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Anyone who doesn't comply with the court's order could be
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: subject to sanctions, Hippler wrote. Hippler said that both sides
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: should disclose any potential witnesses, including experts, by the start
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: of February. He also set a status conference for next June.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: So look, this is going to carry on for quite
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: some time, right? Just like everything else when it comes
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: to Brian Kohlberger and the Moscow murders, it's going to
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: take time, and it's drawn out. And what it does,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: once again, is screw things up for the families. They
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: thought they had closure. They thought that the plea deal
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: put this all to bed. only to wake up one
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: morning to find out that's not true. So, look, I'm
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: not saying that I don't care about Brian Kohlberger's constitutional rights.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I do. Just like I even cared about that skafooza,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Ghislaine Maxwell's. Because it's important, right? The government has so
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: much power to fuck people's lives up, to ruin people's lives,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: to throw them in prison, and other shit, that they
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: have to play by the rules. There can be no shortcuts.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: So if shortcuts were taken, let's see them. Lay them out.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Give us your evidence. Tell us what happened. Who screwed
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: things up? Who was working against you when they were
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: supposed to be defending you? Because from where I'm sitting,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: my personal opinion is none of that occurred. I think
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: that Brian Kohlberger's lawyers were some of the best that
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: I've ever seen, if I'm being honest. And we're talking
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: about a very complex case. Millions of pages of discovery.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: All kinds of tests. all kinds of DNA profiles, IgG reports,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff. And I think that Ann Taylor
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: handled that shit real well. And I think you'd be
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: lucky to have a lawyer like Ann Taylor, especially if
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: you're not paying for it. And remember, Brian Koberger didn't
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: pay for his lawyer. The taxpayers in Idaho did. So
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Brian Koberger was afforded one of the best lawyers in
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: the state, some other fantastic lawyers that joined the team,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: And he's still saying he got a raw deal? That
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: he got screwed? That he was coerced? You know who
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: got a raw deal? Zanna, Ethan, Madison, and Kaylee. And
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: all of their family and friends. They got a raw deal.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Not Brian Kohlberger. Bro had every chance in the world
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: to fight these charges. He had every chance in the
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: world to stand up in that courtroom and say, look,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I'm not pleading guilty. I didn't do this shit. It
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: wasn't me. You got the wrong guy, Jack. But what
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: did he do? Pleaded guilty, then like the little bitch
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: he is, didn't say anything else. So all these people
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: out here talking about, oh, there's a conspiracy, or Brian
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Kohlberger's not guilty. Nobody believes that. Nobody with a brain
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: in their head. Maybe Candace Owen supporters, but regular people,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: they're not buying that shit. And that's because they've seen
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the evidence. And the evidence is overwhelming. And that's just
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the circumstantial part of it. Now that we're getting into
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: what the experts had to say behind the scenes, the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: evidence that they compiled against this man is devastating. And
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: I think he's making a big mistake. Because I think
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: if they go to trial, that Brian Koberger is going
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: to get the death penalty. So my unsolicited advice to Mr.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Weirdo is to tread very, very lightly. Because I don't
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: think the taxpayers and the jurors in Idaho are buying
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: your nonsense. They weren't buying it then, and I don't
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: think they're buying it now. In fact, I think you're
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: going to make a lot of people very angry with
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: this bullshit. And some of those people, well, they just
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: might find their way.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Into that jury pool. So look, we're not at a
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: point yet where any of that's even going to come
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: into play. Okay? We still have a long way to go.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: But the wheels are now in motion. The only question is,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: what's the destination? All the information that goes with this
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: episode can be found in the description box.