Idaho prosecutors reject Bryan Kohberger's numerous challenges to search warrants.

Idaho prosecutors have rejected a series of Bryan Kohberger's motions to challenge search warrants obtained during his arrest for the murder of four college students, examining the defense's arguments and informing the judge that there was "substantial probable cause" to obtain evidence from his parents' home, his car, his devices, and other locations.

Bill Thompson, the prosecuting attorney of Latah County, argued in part of the nine objections to Kohberger's defense that the warrants in question were "supported by substantial probable cause." Although most of the details are under seal, prosecutors are requesting the judge to dismiss the defense motions and uphold the warrants.

Judge Steven Hippler was requested by the defense to suppress DNA evidence, searches on Kohberger's devices and digital accounts, his car, his person, and his parent's house last month.

On November 13, 2022, at approximately 4 a.m., four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered, and Kohberger is currently being charged with four first-degree murder counts and a felony burglary charge in connection with the crime.

A masked man with "bushy eyebrows" is alleged to have snuck into a house near the University of Idaho campus, where some students were asleep, and killed them with a large knife, according to prosecutors. The surviving housemate told detectives she saw the man after hearing crying and sounds of a struggle.

The victims were Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, all in their early 20s.

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A criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, Kohberger, was arrested at his parents' house in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains weeks later.

The Ka-Bar knife sheath found under Mogen's body contained Kohberger's DNA, according to prosecutors. Kohberger drove a white Hyundai Elantra, which was identified as the suspect vehicle, and turned off his phone before heading to and from the crime scene, the affidavit states. Police, using phone records, claimed that he stalked the victims' home on 12 occasions before the murders and drove by once more hours after.

At his May 2023 arraignment, a judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Kohberger.

Prosecution's objection to the defendant's motion to suppress

The defense team, headed by Anne Taylor, Jay Logsdon, and Elisa Massoth, is requesting a Franks hearing to have the warrants overturned. They maintain their client's innocence.

Experts on Planet Chronicle Digital say that hearings are rarely granted and even more rarely successful.

"John Henry Browne, a Seattle-based defense attorney with over 52 years of legal experience, has tried over 300 cases and had judges grant Franks hearings three times in his career. Two of these hearings resulted in nothing, while the third resulted in the judge eventually throwing out the charges. Despite the outcomes, Browne believes that these hearings can be very productive and helpful to the defense from the standpoint of discovery."

If Kohberger can prove that investigators willfully disregarded or misrepresented the truth in their warrant affidavits, the information can be thrown out of the warrants. However, even if that long-shot effort is successful, the judge will weigh whether there is enough probable cause remaining in the warrant and could find it is still valid.

Kohberger's team was instructed by Hippler to resubmit their motion for a Franks hearing, as their lawyers deemed it unacceptable to receive 2,000 pages of exhibits without specifying which parts were pertinent to their case.

A closed-door hearing was held on Dec. 11. Kohberger is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 23.

If convicted, he could face the death penalty and the trial is scheduled to begin next year. He is being held without bail.