Bryan Kohberger’s New Lawyer Targets the Constitutionality of His Guilty Plea (9/1/26)

Bryan Kohberger’s newest attorney, Jason Goldman, says the immediate focus of the defense is whether Kohberger’s 2025 guilty plea was constitutionally valid and truly entered knowingly and voluntarily. Kohberger pleaded guilty to murdering Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, but he is now seeking post-conviction relief and attempting to withdraw that plea. In a handwritten petition filed in July, Kohberger claimed his former attorneys provided ineffective assistance and that his plea was induced by promises that were not kept and threats allegedly made by members of his own defense team. Goldman says an amended petition and possible evidentiary hearing could finally expose what happened during the critical days leading up to the plea, including circumstances that have not yet been made public. Judge Steven Hippler has given Kohberger’s attorneys until November 13 to file the more detailed amended petition, while prosecutors are pushing to have the challenge dismissed.

The new defense team is also attacking the structure of the proceedings themselves. Idaho attorney Greg Rauch, who was appointed to represent Kohberger, has asked that Hippler be removed from the case and that the proceedings be transferred back to Moscow, arguing that questions surrounding the judge’s impartiality must be resolved before Kohberger’s constitutional claims are heard. The motion points to Hippler’s earlier refusal to give Kohberger’s trial attorneys additional preparation time and to unusually harsh comments the judge made about Kohberger at sentencing. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have requested the transcript of Kohberger’s July 2025 plea hearing, apparently preparing to use Kohberger’s own sworn statements in court to undermine his new assertion that the plea was involuntary. What had appeared to be a closed case after Kohberger admitted responsibility and received four consecutive life sentences has therefore reopened into a significant post-conviction battle, with his new attorneys signaling that the circumstances surrounding the plea, his former defense team and potentially previously undisclosed information could become central issues in court.



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Bryan Kohberger's new lawyer targets guilty plea constitutionality | Fox News

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