Judge maintains death penalty as possible punishment for Bryan Kohberger despite autism diagnosis

A justice ruled Thursday that prosecutors tin prosecute the decease punishment against Bryan Kohberger if helium is convicted of murdering 4 University of Idaho students successful 2022, contempt the defendant's caller autism diagnosis.

Kohberger, 30, is charged successful the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves astatine a rental location adjacent field successful Moscow, Idaho, connected Nov. 13, 2022.

Prosecutors said they intended to question the decease punishment if Kohberger is convicted astatine his trial, which is acceptable to statesman successful August.

But his attorneys asked Judge Steven Hippler to region the decease punishment arsenic a imaginable punishment, citing Kohberger’s diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. They person besides filed respective different motions challenging the decease penalty, including 1 based connected purported violations by the authorities successful providing evidence.

“Mr. Kohberger’s autism spectrum upset (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of superior punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable hazard that helium volition beryllium wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death,” defence attorneys wrote successful tribunal papers.

They argued that executing idiosyncratic with autism would represent cruel and antithetic punishment nether the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Prosecutors argued that nether U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the lone intelligence disablement that precludes imposition of the decease punishment is an intelligence disablement — and Kohberger’s diagnosis was of mild autism “without accompanying intelligence . . . impairment.”

The justice agreed.

“Not lone has Defendant failed to amusement that ASD is equivalent to an intelligence disablement for decease punishment exemption purposes, helium has not shown determination is nationalist statement against subjecting individuals with ASD to superior punishment,” Hippler wrote. “ASD whitethorn beryllium mitigating origin to beryllium weighed against the aggravating factors successful determining if suspect should person the decease penalty, but it is not (a) death-penalty disqualifier.”

Kohberger was a transgression justness postgraduate pupil astatine Washington State University, successful Pullman, astir 10 miles (16.1 kilometers) from Moscow, astatine the clip of the killings successful November 2022. He was arrested successful Pennsylvania weeks later. Investigators said they matched his DNA to familial worldly recovered from a weapon sheath recovered astatine the transgression scene.

Autopsies showed the 4 were each apt dormant erstwhile they were attacked, immoderate had antiaircraft wounds and each was stabbed aggregate times.