Bryan Kohberger case: Judge says roommate can testify on eyebrows
Sierra Campbell
(NewsNation) — The judge in the Bryan Kohberger case has ruled that the surviving roommate in the University of Idaho college student killings can testify about the intruder having “bushy eyebrows.”
The defense team had wanted that information to be excluded from the case, according to NewsNation’s Brian Entin. Prosecutors wanted to use a selfie of Kohberger to show jurors he has the type of “bushy eyebrows” described by the roommate who allegedly saw a stranger in the home.
Ada County Judge Steven Hippler claimed that the testimony from the roommate had been “remarkably consistent” over the five interviews with police and during the grand jury, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Newly released court documents include this smiling selfie of Bryan Kohberger, allegedly taken on the morning four University of Idaho students were killed.
Hippler did not agree that the testimony would be unfairly prejudicial to Kohberger’s case.
“D.M.’s testimony about ‘bushy eyebrows’ is highly relevant in this case. D.M. is the only eyewitness to the intruder responsible for the homicides. It is the jury’s task to determine whether (the) defendant is that person,” the judge wrote.
Judge to provide future written orders on remaining items in Bryan Kohberger case
This order was just the first of around 12 outstanding rulings that are expected from the judge. This comes after an all-day motions hearing from last week about how certain evidence can be used during the trial, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Hippler had issued several orders from the bench during the hearing, however, he said future orders would be coming on any remaining items.
Bryan Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted into court for a hearing in Latah County District Court on Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse on June 27, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Photo by August Frank-Pool/Getty Images)
Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court on Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
FILE – Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in November 2022. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson filed the notice of his intent to seek the death penalty in court on Monday, June 26. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool, File)
FILE – Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County District Court, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Law enforcement officials seized dark clothing, medical gloves, a flashlight and other items from a Pennsylvania home where they arrested Kohberger, a graduate student charged with stabbing four University of Idaho students to death, according to newly unsealed court documents. The records were made public Tuesday, Feb. 28. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool, File)
FILE – Boise State University students, along with people who knew the four University of Idaho students who were found killed in Moscow, Idaho, days earlier, pay their respects at a vigil held in front of a statue on the Boise State campus, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Boise, Idaho. The arrest of Bryan Christopher Kohberger in the Nov. 13, 2022 fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students has brought relief to the small college town of Moscow, Idaho.(Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman via AP, File)
At the time, he was a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. This university is located about nine miles west of Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger’s trial is set to start in late July with jury selection. Prosecutors want to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
