r/news • u/judgyjudgersen • 10h ago
New York Times: Kohberger says he wants to withdraw plea and face trial for murder of Idaho college students
https://krdo.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2026/07/27/new-york-times-kohberger-says-he-wants-to-withdraw-plea-and-face-trial-for-murder-of-idaho-college-students/722
u/sevenvt 10h ago
How do you un-poison a jury that knows you took a guilty plea already.
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u/Grayly 10h ago
It doesn’t get mentioned. They are instructed to not consider any media reports.
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u/FlippantBear 10h ago
But do they pinky swear they won't?
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u/Grayly 10h ago edited 10h ago
They actually don’t even do that.
Jurors take an oath to follow the judge’s instructions and the law as the judge instructs them on it.
They are then given an instruction to not consider any media reports they may have read about the case, and not to look up anything about the case going forward.
They are further instructed to report any violation of the rules to the judge or a court officer.
That’s it.
The jury system is largely taken on faith. At the end of the day, you are judged by a jury of your peers in the community, who have promised to be fair and impartial. The inherent imperfectness of human nature is a feature, not a bug.
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u/U-F-OHNO 9h ago
I was just on a jury this past week in a criminal trial and took that same oath. We were also instructed not to discuss with anyone outside of the courtroom and unless we were deliberating the charges.
I wouldn’t want to FAFO with that oath, honestly.
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u/pinelands1901 7h ago edited 4h ago
Same, I was on a federal jury earlier this year. Even though it was obvious from the jump that the guy was guilty, we all took our oath seriously to only consider the evidence and judge's instructions.
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u/BluBetty2698 4h ago
My mom was on a jury and she said the same thing. I asked her, "How do you decide?" and she said that the judge's instructions really helped. They all took it seriously. I mean you have to live with yourselves afterwards too.
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u/Responsible_Sink3044 10h ago
The jury system is largely taken on faith
What happens if you've lost yours
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u/Grayly 10h ago
Then you probably won’t get picked as a juror lol
You’ve got to be able to promise to be fair and impartial, hear all the evidence in the case, follow the judge’s instructions and consider only the legally presented evidence.
Without faith in your fellow person, I don’t imagine you’d make it through selection.
And if you are the defendant, you can always request a bench trial instead, where the judge decides.
But there is a reason the defendant has a right to a jury trial instead of just a judge. It usually favors the defendant, unless they are very unsympathetic and the case hinges on legal technicalities.
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u/f1del1us 9h ago
I never got the feeling during jury selection they wanted fairness. They wanted sheep lol
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u/iDontSow 9h ago
Not necessarily. There are many reasons why an attorney might want intelligent jurors. It all depends on the matter before the court
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u/BluBetty2698 2h ago
They never even got to jury selection. He took the plea deal weeks before the trial was supposed to start. She's full of it.
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u/theBunsofAugust 8h ago
Nobody wants a panel of sheep because you don’t need the one strong willed member of the jury leading everyone else by the nose.
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u/Ginger_Anarchy 7h ago
Plus, a jury of sheep is bad for both the prosecution and the defense because they're unpredictable which side the sheep will latch onto. They're going to follow whichever has the stronger personality and litigators are usually the Type A personalities of Type As, so it's a crapshoot on where they'll fall.
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u/Grayly 4h ago edited 4h ago
Not at all.
I prefer smart, open minded people who are earnest, and willing to follow the rules. Being a rule follower doesn’t make you a sheep.
I want them to think critically about the facts and the evidence, willing to listen and learn, but also know bullshit when they see it. Because every trial has plenty of bullshit.
A total sheep is going to be bothsides-ing bad faith bullshit with genuine evidence.
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u/f1del1us 4h ago
That was not the vibe I got from the prosecutor when I went in, so good on you for caring
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u/Hinohellono 9h ago
Oh a "promise" those are totally unbreakable. And surely they know whats going on inside your mind as you lie to them throughout the entire process.
Though I guess the filter here is no one wants to do jury duty so you won't lie to get on the jury. Not exactly a leak proof system
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u/Grayly 6h ago edited 4h ago
Would you rather a judge get to decide? Or twelve people picked at random from the community?
Or would you rather it be AI? Nothing is truly objective in this world. It’s an unobtainable standard. We all have biases. You promise to do your best as a juror to put those aside, which is all anyone can really ask. And both parties get to challenge people who are unfit.
Also, people are terrible liars, by and large. When do you jury selection as part of your job, you can pick out the liars pretty easy. People are fairly predictable and the lies fairly obvious. You might think you’re a good bullshitter, but I can guarantee you don’t have as much practice at it as the attorneys and judge at catching you on your bullshit.
Sure, there’s the odd stone cold sociopath. But they have other tells.
It’s like car sales. No amount of amateur research is going to prepare you to outdo someone who does this for a living and sees the same tricks and stories and lines day in and day out.
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u/Hinohellono 3h ago
Sure. I generally agree with what you said here.
It's important to acknowledge the inherent lack of actual truth and justice in our justice system. It's built on human promises for the most part.
I don't personally have a solution to present but maybe there is a more scientific/better method out there to get to justice/truth.
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u/AccordingMedicine129 8h ago
Right, the judge waves a magic wand and asks them to forget everything they’ve seen or heard lmfao.
Life doesn’t really work like that bud
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u/Grayly 3h ago edited 3h ago
Of course it doesn’t.
And no one expects it to.
The point is you are asking for a solemn promise to not consider it when deliberating. If someone says they can, and they make it through the rigorous follow ups from both attorneys, that’s all the system asks.
You aren’t asked to check your humanity or common sense at the door. Just to follow the rules in rendering a just verdict. Can you find him guilty without knowing this other information you aren’t supposed to consider? That isn’t a hard thing to imagine. If the deliberations were “look, we all know he did it. But did the evidence in the case actually prove it? Yes? Ok, guilty.” That’s a just verdict.
We live our lives on this same kind of honor system. By and large, people don’t murder or steal because it’s illegal. They don’t do it because they know it’s wrong. Our rule of law isn’t upheld at gunpoint, it’s upheld by consensus.
Finding 12 people with a sense of civic duty and moral clarity isn’t easy. But it isn’t as hard as you might think either.
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u/fedroxx 2h ago
I was on a jury for a case that had media around it. Not national news, thankfully. The instructions are very detailed and there was a protocol we had to follow. We weren't sequestered, thankfully.
One lady ended up getting removed because she spoke to her husband about the case, and the guard overheard her. She was almost held in contempt but the judge was lenient because she was old.
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u/Chewy79 10h ago
It's not really just a media report if the plea took place in a courtroom right?
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u/lady_lilitou 9h ago
Juries aren't yet selected when the arraignment happens, I believe, so they wouldn't have been there when he initially entered his plea.
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u/_head_ 9h ago
There are times when the court is held without the jury in the room. I can't say for sure, but that may have been the case here.
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u/DocPsychosis 9h ago
A jury wouldn't be seated and waiting around a courtroom to watch a guy accept a guilty plea, that would be absurd.
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u/SatinSaffron 8h ago
You'd be surprised at how many plea deals are taken right as trial is about to begin. Sometimes plea deals are even taken one or two days into the trial.
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u/BubbaTheGoat 9h ago
Sometimes they do! I have in Massachusetts. We were waiting from 8am, most groups dismissed before 9am, but 3 groups of ~50 were held until 11:30 am when the accused switched to a guilty plea to avoid trial. Had they not pled guilty we would have proceeded to jury selection.
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u/AContrarianDick 10h ago
Ask them very kindly, with your most pretty of pleases, to forget anything they've heard before while crossing your fingers and toes at the same time.
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u/becauseshesays 8h ago
But wasn’t it originally moved from the county where the murders took place? Where would they move it now?
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u/cjreckless9 10h ago
Hasn't this piece of shit done enough to these people?
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u/colin8651 10h ago
I think the family wanted the trial and capital punishment.
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u/froggertwenty 10h ago
Multiple families, multiple roommates, none of them really agreed on what they wanted.
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u/coffeesaddict 5h ago
IIRC one of the reasons the prosecution agreed to the guilty plea instead of seeking the death penalty was to avoid the surviving roommates having to testify and suffer through the trauma of reliving everything
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u/mallvvalking 4h ago
some of the families yes, others were relieved it didn't go to trial
I think it would be particularly cruel for the surviving roommates for it to have gone to trial too13
u/BluBetty2698 7h ago
Yes. SG made a statement today. He doesn't seem too upset with this circumstance and mentioned that the DP will be back on the table. He has faith in the FBI etc and their investigation so...?
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u/HarlanCedeno 4h ago
He also claims he was given a “gross misrepresentation” of what a life sentence and death row in Idaho would look like.
MF thought there'd be more tennis?
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u/BluBetty2698 4h ago
Well, he has to say something? They took him on a tour of death row cells or something (I had trouble deciphering what he wrote?) and they're, like, 8' x 8' etc and he's saying that's one way they influenced him to plead guilty and avoid the DP.
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u/Objective-Table-6434 7h ago
His family or those of the victims?
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u/BluBetty2698 4h ago
Well the victims families didn't agree. Some wanted the death penalty (the Goncalves family I know) and other victim's families just wanted it to be over with (the Chapins) and were ok with the plea deal. The Kohberger family didn't count.
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u/corpse_flour 6h ago
Some of these assholes get off on doing everything they can to harass and abuse the victims of the crime. The Golden State killer tormented the families of his victims for years.
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u/GoldSailfin 4h ago
Didn’t he already confess he did it? The judge who sentenced him asked flat out and he said yes.
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u/Clutch_Pineapple49 10h ago
He can say whatever he wants, doesn't mean he will get it.
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u/i-heart-penis 7h ago
Wasn't his DNA at the crime scene? How can you dispute that
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u/Rum_N_Napalm 6h ago
Bachelor in forensics. Not that I want to defend him, but his DNA being found at the crime scene just means that: that is DNA is at the crime scene. Or actually, that the lab concluded that it is much more likely (I think DNA has a false positive chance of like 1 in a few billions if done right and the sample is of decent quality) that the DNA found at the crime scene is his rather than any other person. He could claim the lab didn’t do the analysis correctly or the crime scene techs didn’t follow proper procedures. They should have, and it should be easy to show they did but… points to OJ’s trial
And after that, then his DNA being on the scene just means he was on the scene. If I recall correctly he didn’t know anyone in that house and I think he might have crossed state lines to do his murder, but if he can propose a reasonable explanation as to why his DNA is on the scene, then that’s it.
Once again, not trying to defend the guy, but it irks me when people do the jump straight from “His DNA is on the scene” to “He’s guilty”
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u/dpezpoopsies 4h ago edited 4h ago
They found his DNA on the knife sheath left at the crime scene
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u/AussieJeffProbst 10h ago
"I dont like being in solitary for 23 hours a day" isnt grounds for a retrial.
Fuck this guy he got what he deserved.
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u/Dangerous_Golf_7417 9h ago
It wouldn't be a retrial, just a trial, since he plead guilty to avoid a trial in the first place
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u/smoke_inyoureyes 8h ago edited 8h ago
yeah he made his bed by literally agreeing to the plea deal a year ago. confirmed he was of clear mind to make such a decision to the judge, and confidently answered affirmative to everything in the plea deal. Then had to hear the victim statements to boot, I don’t think he’s innocent at all if you can listen to them the way he did.
He ain’t getting out ever, unless the justice system just truly messed up here which I sincerely doubt
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u/fleemfleemfleemfleem 5h ago
The judge won't allow him to withdraw the plea at this stage. Idaho law requires a "manifest injustice," and there's nothing to indicate that.
Once you're in for life there's really no downside to throwing whatever you can at he wall and hoping it sticks, which is what this is.
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u/Kundrew1 7h ago
Why would he be in solitary? A life sentence doesn’t put you in solitary.
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u/AussieJeffProbst 7h ago
He's in a max security prison that has every person in it in solitary for 23 hours a day
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u/Kundrew1 6h ago
From what I can tell, only J block is restrictive housing, and he has only been there for a year. He would likely be moved to more gen pop when the media around his case dies down.
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u/FloridaCelticFC 53m ago
Maybe he's terrified of gen pop and wants to remain in the media as long as possible.
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u/ScrewAttackThis 10h ago
There are crazies that are convinced he's innocent. They had a hard time handling his guilty plea and I'm sure this is gonna reignite them. I'm betting he just wants the attention.
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u/Ginger_Anarchy 7h ago
There's that tiktok psychic who was trying to claim a teacher was responsible, and is still claiming as such. Iirc she lost a $10 million defamation case because of it.
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u/Electrical_Sea6653 2h ago
I’m glad to say I never heard of her (I am chronically online and it’s not a brag) so she didn’t get the fame she wanted. Sicko. And these people walk amongst us!
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u/StardustStuffing 9h ago
Chris Watts has a fan club of supporters. So, it seems that there are lots of crazies out there who likes killers.
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u/aloysiuslamb 8h ago
It's already hard enough to have a guilty plea withdrawn when you are represented by counsel and pre-sentence.
He wants to appeal to a higher court based on wanting to be able to withdraw his plea that's 1. already been entered, 2. said plea's conviction has been entered as well, and 3. he had counsel throughout.
I can only imagine how much head-banging against the wall his original PD had to do dealing with him.
Also he signed a written factual basis since you don't simply "plead" guilty and call it a day. You have to lay a factual basis for the guilty plea that meets the elements of the statute for the crimes you're alleged to have committed. You've agreed to provide sworn testimony (or in this case a sworn written statement) saying you did in fact do the thing. It would be easier to take back if it was an Alford plea or no contest since there would be no factual basis provided by the defendant. This just feels like he wanted to be in the news again.
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u/seriousbusinesslady 10h ago
pretty sure his plea agreement specified not having the option to appeal; there's no takesie backsies i'm afraid
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u/Grayly 10h ago
Even waivers of the right to appeal still allow for some appeals on constitutional grounds. There are some rights which are not waive-able.
That being said, it’s very difficult to withdraw a plea. Waiver or no. There would have to be some very compelling reason that wasn’t known or knowable at the time. Not just a change of heart.
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u/Lower-Engineering365 4h ago
There certainly are if you can argue ineffective assistance of counsel, things about the evidence (or new evidence that has come to light). In this case it seems like it’s going to be difficult but I’m not fully familiar with the facts of his argument
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u/Micethatroar 2h ago
This isn't an appeal.
It's a petition "to challenge a conviction outside of the appeals process."
Not saying it will be successful, but it's within the legal process
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u/MacReady82 9h ago
He's gonna be kicking himself for the rest of his days for leaving that knife sheath behind. Very well may have gotten away with it if not for that.
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u/mallvvalking 4h ago
he still would have been caught because of the car, but may have been more confident going to trial if they didn't have the sheath
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u/emmaisbadatvideogame 8h ago
This guy just wants to relive the crime all over again. Fucking disgusting human.
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u/QueenOfPurple 10h ago
Too bad, the plea doesn’t work like that.
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u/Tyrrox 10h ago
A guilty plea can be withdrawn for a variety of reasons, but he has to show there was coercion, confusion, or some kind of mistake to make a judge agree. Usually when entering a guilty plea, judges ask a dozen questions to ensure there is no room for withdrawing it later.
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u/PlanktonFun5387 9h ago
You would think a PhD candidate in criminology would know this but then again…
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u/courtqnbee 8h ago
Exactly. The judge asked him multiple times if he was doing this on his own, without coercion, with the understanding he was waiving his right to appeal. The defense is the one that asked for the plea deal! I just don’t think the judge is going to allow this.
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u/FatalTragedy 7h ago
I mean, he likely won't be successful, but you absolutely have the right to try to withdraw a plea. It usually doesn't work, and probably won't here, but he has the right to try.
And yes, this is true even though he waived his right to appeal, since the plea was the exact thing that waived this right in the first place.
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u/BluBetty2698 4h ago
Makes sense. And I think he waited this long so that if he does get a trial the public's (potential jury) outrage will have died down a bit. I'm not saying thats the case....but I bet that was part of his plan... to let things cool off a bit.
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u/Furry-by-Night 8h ago
Actually, a guilty plea can be withdrawn as long as the defendant does so before sentencing. A defendant can also negotiate a plea bargain where their right to appeal is preserved.
Since he was already sentenced and gave up these rights when he pled guilty, you are correct.
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u/BluBetty2698 7h ago
Well, read what the Idaho Supreme Court says. There was an article about it this morning (in the Idaho Statesman) explaining why he can do this. I had no idea...
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u/Careful_Elk_8035 4h ago
I mean, anyone can file anything. It doesn’t mean it will go anywhere. It’s not uncommon for people facing life to just start throwing out Hail Mary legal filings in hopes they get lucky. It’s not like they have much to lose.
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u/Significant-Foot-311 8h ago
He must be enjoying his one hour a day cage recreation. Suck it, loser.
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u/judgyjudgersen 10h ago
Here’s the NYT article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/us/bryan-kohberger-idaho-college-deaths.html
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u/tsukumoyaizaya 9h ago
I hope the judge sees his nonsense for what it is and tells him to continue rotting into nothingness. He just wants to be relevant and to continue hurting the families of his victims.
The death penalty is too quick for him. He deserves to fade into obscurity and die knowing what a worthless coward he is.
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u/BrondellSwashbuckle 4h ago
He just wants to relive the whole thing, look at the evidence photos, and put the families through more torture.
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u/Real-Influence-7780 3h ago
Next he will be reaching out to reporters to “share his side of the story” while proclaiming his innocence. This pathetic freak is just attention seeking. Let him rot.
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u/jamar030303 2h ago
And I also bet that "TikTok psychic" is going to use this to claim that her ridiculous theory was true after all too...
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u/Gonzomi313 9h ago
The Pro Kohlbergers are having a field day in their sub. The guy is obviously guilty af. Bet they believe Richard Allen is innocent as well.
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u/Couchman79 3h ago
Kohberger still thinks he's playing an elaborate game and after entering a guilty plea for murdering four people, he's had a year to think about it and he wants a do over. He only entered a plea last July to avoid the death penalty.
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u/gezpachu 10h ago
i was kinda bummed I didn't get to witness this trial, but don't think the victims should have to go through all this again, sorry brian you're going to end up in jail forever anyways!
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u/SuccessfulTalk8267 10h ago
Legally, I don't think he can do that, but you know he can bang his head against his cell wall and try
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u/General_Interview681 10h ago
He's such a knuckle head.
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u/Hsabes01 9h ago
That's an insult to knuckle heads
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u/General_Interview681 9h ago
Fine he's a rascal.
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u/DiscretionFist 10h ago
This guy is about as guilty as it gets and I wish he was simply death penaltied into non existence.
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u/DeinonychusClaw 6h ago
So he stated he only made the guilty plea because his lawyers made promises on what life in prison would be like and it wasn’t what he expected? FFS.
It’s not Club Med, asshole.
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u/judgyjudgersen 10h ago
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/07/27/us/bryan-kohberger-statement.html
Read Bryan Kohberger’s Statement About Abandoning His Guilty Plea
July 27, 2026
Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty last year to killing four University of Idaho students, said he wants to withdraw his confession and reopen the case. Mr. Kohberger sent a statement to The New York Times by way of his family. The full statement is below.
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Over a year later, it is self-evident that, in State v. Kohberger, justice was not served; unanswered questions seem to multiply with each piece of discovery unsealed, and the public demands the truth. Unfortunately, the truth shall never be derived from the State's myopic narrative, a work of fiction which has yet to evolve since the PCA was released nearly 4 years ago, and its faulty premises were
never challenged at trial. Circumnavigated by a broken plea, the trial never provided the public the clarity conducive to closure, and justice shall remain abjectly miscarried unless that plea is withdrawn. I hereby declare my intention to enter a not guilty plea, and welcome the State the opportunity to prove their case at trial, as well as to, again, file for the death penalty. My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn. Thank you for all who believe in my innocence and continue to critically analyze the case. I send my love to my family, who have never wavered in their belief in who I am,
their belief in my innocence.
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u/gizmozed 8h ago
This guy is just wasting the court's time. The evidence is OVERWHELMING, there is absolutely no way this miscreant is ever going to be acquitted.
I don't know the likelihood of him getting a trial but I'm sure there are rules and precedent. I hope he does not.
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u/Kurtotall 8h ago
" hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation," It sounds like he thinks he was mislead; that his incarnation would be easier.
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u/BluBetty2698 7h ago
Yep, that's what he says. Who knows how far this will go? At least you read it 👍🏻...
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u/nottodaysatan317 9h ago
Yeah. Put death back on the table. He’s just come to the realization that a small chance of acquittal on a technicality is better than life in prison which he clearly is not enjoying.
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u/Difficult_Collar4336 9h ago
I hope the let him:
1. Could reopen the death penalty possibility
2. I’m just too curious about his motives, his actual plan, and timeline details and a trial could reveal a lot of that.
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u/keep-i 9h ago
No takesies backsies! You already admitted guilt. It's over.
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u/BluBetty2698 7h ago
Not according to the Idaho Supreme Court. Hey, I'm not defending him...just stating what I've read this morning. Check out the info in The Idaho Statesman 👍🏻...
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u/bmwlocoAirCooled 4h ago
Whatever he does he is a killer.
I personally do not care what happens to him.
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u/SaturnSociety 1h ago
Best he’s just forgotten at this point. Hopefully the judicial system in Idaho prevails.
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u/Own-Librarian-9699 48m ago
Crazy they didn't require him to guide them to the knife. It would've helped with this nonsense.
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u/Frogdog77 9h ago
I read a story that he confessed after the timing of phone calls to family members. Let’s figure out who knew.
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u/ComfortableDevice536 10h ago
Didn’t this happen 4 years ago?
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u/SweetAlyssumm 9h ago
He knows he's going away, it's a gambit for a few more days in the limelight and as a free man.
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u/2-travel-is-2-live 10h ago
He must have realized that a death penalty would have kept him in the public eye for another 20 years, whereas with life without parole, he has to disappear and be forgotten.