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Bryan Kohberger's defense team opposes death penalty: 'Cruel and unusual'
Bryan Kohberger’s defense team is opposing the death penalty for the quadruple Idaho murder suspect on multiple grounds.
Kohberger, 29, is charged with four counts of murder and burglary after he allegedly killed Xana Kernodle, 20; Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Among Kohberger’s defense attorneys’ arguments against the death penalty are their claims that “Idaho has no viable method for killing” in a capital punishment case, the state’s method for obtaining a death penalty punishment is “unconstitutional,” a capital murder case cannot be prepared in 10 months, and the death penalty violates the “prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.”
Executing Kohberger “by means of lethal injection or a gunshot as conceived of by the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) would violate his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment and his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” his attorneys wrote.
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Bryan Kohberger appears in court in Moscow, Idaho, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Kohberger appeared in court in an attempt to overturn his grand jury indictment for the 2022 murders of four college students in their home. (Kai Eiselein/Pool)
They also argue that death by firing squad, which is the second legal execution method in Idaho after lethal injection, “is not and was never constitutional.”
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In other documents filed Thursday, Kohberger’s defense states that “punishment which does not comport with the evolving standards of a modern, civilized society is cruel and unusual.”
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Bryan Christopher Kohberger arrives at Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 3, 2023, before waiving extradition to Idaho to face murder charges in the stabbing deaths of four university students. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
“The vast majority of modern, civilized society has already abolished capital punishment because the execution of human beings by governments is recognized to be a violation of the dignity and spirit of human beings,” his attorneys wrote. “The institutional killing of civilian prisoners affronts the modern, civilized world. The United States has been routinely condemned by the international community for continuing to execute its own people.”
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Meanwhile, prosecutors have argued that the state is trying to enforce Idaho law that says “a jury is entitled to decide not only guilt but potential penalty.”
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Investigators set up outside the home where four University of Idaho students were slain in November 2022 in Moscow, Idaho, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“We are simply trying to fulfill our responsibilities under the law. To characterize it as the State is trying, is wanting, is trying to kill someone, is just simply appealing to raw emotion, and it has no place in this courtroom,” prosecutors previously stated.
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The defendant — a 29-year-old former criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington — is accused of stabbing the four University of Idaho students with a KA-BAR-style knife in their home near campus in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, a Sunday.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
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Kohberger was arrested in late December 2022 at his family’s home in Pennsylvania.
His trial is scheduled to take place no later than the summer of 2025.
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Seattle Torrent put Olympic captain Hilary Knight on long-term IR – Seattle Sports
Olympians Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Erin Ambrose have all been placed on long-term injured reserve by their PWHL clubs after sustaining injuries during the Milan Cortina Games.
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Knight, a five-time Olympian and captain of the United States team that won gold, will be out of the lineup for the Seattle Torrent indefinitely after sustaining a lower-body injury in Italy, the team announced Friday.
Knight had three goals and three assists for the U.S. at Milan Cortina including a goal in the 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the final. She has three goals and seven assists during the current PWHL season.
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“While we’re eager to be at full strength and recognize the anticipation of Hilary’s return, we’re focused on putting her and our team in the best position for a playoff push,” Torrent general manager Meghan Turner said in a statement.
Minnesota Frost captain Coyne Schofield was placed on long-term injured reserve on Friday retroactive to Feb. 19 with an upper-body injury. Coyne Schofield scored three goals for the United States during the Olympics.
“I am incredibly proud of all our Frost Olympians who demonstrated true excellence on the world stage,” general manager Melissa Caruso said in a statement. “We are fully committed to supporting Kendall throughout her recovery, and our medical team will be working diligently to help her prepare for her return to the ice.”
The moves by the Torrent and Frost came a day after the Montreal Victoire announced that Ambrose has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 19 for a lower‑body injury suffered while representing Canada in the gold medal game. Ambrose had a pair of assists at the Olympics.
The Victoire’s Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada’s captain in Italy, was listed as day-to-day with an Olympics-related injury.
Victoire general manager Daniele Sauvageau said of the team’s Olympians “we are confident that they will be back in the lineup in the near future.”
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