As case advances against suspect in U of I killings, Idaho judge issues sweeping gag order
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Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman
MOSCOW (Idaho Statesman) — The sometimes tight-lipped nature of the investigation into the killing of four University of Idaho students and Friday’s arrest of suspect Bryan C. Kohberger is about to get even quieter.
Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall on Tuesday issued a nondissemination order that “prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,” the Moscow Police Department said in a news release.
This happened hours after Kohberger waived extradition in a Pennsylvania court, allowing his transport to Idaho within 10 days to face four first-degree murder charges. Moscow police said earlier in the day that details of the suspect’s transfer to Idaho would be kept secret “for security reasons.”
Moscow police said that in line with Marshall’s order, the department will “no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case.”
The judge’s order states that all parties “are prohibited from making extrajudicial statements, written or oral, concerning this case, other than a quotation from or reference to, without comment, the public records.”
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The probable cause affidavit that lays out the case against Kohberger remains under seal per Idaho statute, but it was expected to become public once the suspect is in Idaho and the charges are entered in court. The order is not expected to affect the unsealing of the affidavit, a spokesperson for the Idaho judicial branch told the Idaho Statesman.
“As stated in the order itself, this applies to the parties of the case, not the records of the case,” spokesperson Nate Poppino said in a phone interview. “We talk fairly regularly about, ‘The court speaks through its records.’ This is setting up the record of the case to be the source of information of the case.”
The judge’s order prohibits “any statement which a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication that relates” to certain areas, including:
- Evidence in the Kohberger case
- Character, credibility or criminal record
- Any opinion as to the case’s merits or “claims or defense of a party
- Any other matter reasonably likely to interfere with a fair trial
The order will remain in effect until there is a verdict or the court modifies its stipulations, Marshall wrote.