Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the program. In
this episode, we're going to pick up where we left
off with the declaration of Brian Edelman. Part four. Prejudicial
impact of pre trial publicity. There's a body of research
within the social sciences that attempts to address the impact
of pre trial publicity on decision making in the courtroom.
This literature suggests that pre trial publicity influences evaluations of
the defendant, perceptions of criminality, sympathy toward the defendant, pre
trial judgments regarding guilt, and final verdicts. Daft, Terry, Kapur, Penrod, O'Connor,
and Wallace twenty fourteen conducted a field study that incorporated
real time evidence into the methodology. Participants included jury eligible
community members who were naturally exposed to pre trial publicity
over a fourteen month period leading up to the trial.
Trial summaries were presented online during six sessions over the
course of ten weeks. The researchers reports or did a
pre trial publicity effect that persisted throughout the actual trial,
despite admonitions to set aside prejudicial pre trial publicity, participants
were biased by the content of the pre trial publicity Specifically,
those exposed to prosecution oriented articles were more punitive in
their guilty ratings across all six sessions compared to those
exposed to pro defense pre trial publicity. The amount of
the pre trial publicity participants were exposed to also had
a significant effect. In addition, the biasing effect of pre
trial publicity did not disappear over this time. Thus, neither
delay nor trial evidence eliminated the pre trial publicity effect
on judgments of guilt. Stebley at all At nineteen ninety
nine conducted a meta analysis encompassing forty four research studies
on pre trial publicity. The authors reported a statistically significant
relationship between pre trial publicity and verdicts. Media coverage addressing
the defendant, prior record, the existence of confessions, the heinousness
of the crime, and negative character of the defendant have
all shown to have an effect on perceptions of guilt
and final verdicts. Furthermore, deliberations may not reduce the biasing
impact of pre trial publicity. In fact, Kramer, Kerr, and
Carol found that deliberations actually accentuated the effects of pre
trial publicity on final verdicts. Dexter, Cutler, and Moron nineteen
ninety two also reported a significant relationship between prechrild publicity
and views toward guilt. Participants were given pre trial publicity
a week before the study began. Negative pre trial publicity
increased conviction rates, even for subjects who underwent extensive ordeer
addressing pre trial publicity, as demonstrated by Ruve and McAvoy
two thousand and seven, exposure to pre trial publicity can
influence verdicts by affecting perceptions of defendant's credibility ratings for
the prosecution and defense attorneys, and source attribution errors, i e.
Misattributing information learned from the media as evidence presented as
trial evidence, consistent with the experimental literature. On attitudes described above, Hope,
Moman and McGeorge two thousand and four found that jurors
exposed to negative pre trial publicity evaluate prosecution evidence more
favorably than its actual probitive value, a phenomenon coin to
predecision distortion. Thus, attitudes developed from exposure to pre trial
publicity serve as a filter through which later trial evidence
is evaluated. Part five Media analysis. An effort was made
to collect articles published in newspapers with circulation in leta
County to assess the extent of coverage surrounding this case.
The search of the Moscow Pullman, Delhi News, the Idaho Argonaut,
and the Lewiston Morning Tribune uncovered four hundred and forty
four articles which reference these events between November thirteenth, twenty
twenty two and June twenty third, twenty twenty four. This
is a conservative estimate and does not include other newspapers
with readership in Leyta County. The nature of the pre
trial publicity is an important factor to consider when weighing
the need for a change of venue. The initial pre
trial publicity chronicled the elevated state of panic and the
fear in the community as residents and university students anxiously
waited for law enforcement to announce and arrest during the
search for a suspect. With the public demanding answers, The
media drew on information from the five press conferences held
by the Moscow Police Department, eight interviews with Chief Frye
and Captain Lanier, and almost daily press releases. This culminated
with the widely televised press conference held by Chief Frye
and County Prosecutor Bill Thompson after the December thirtieth. The
rest examples of this type of reporting include. He asked
the public to remain vigilant as the killer was still
on the loose. We cannot say that there is no
threat to the community. As we have stated, Please stay vigilant,
report any suspicious activity, and be aware of your surroundings
at all times. Fry also addressed frustrations from the public
over the slow pace of information coming from his departments.
In Sunday, Frye said police are looking at all evidence,
including social media and anyone who might have a connection
to the case. Fry offered assurances that the police are
doing everything they can to let the people in our
community know that we care. We want them to feel safe,
he said. We want them to be safe, and we're
going to do everything we can to do that. U
of I Dean of Students Blaine Eccles said the university
has increased campus safety patrols and students can arrange a
security escort across campus. On Friday, u of I spokeswoman
Jody Walker told The Daily News and estimated twenty five
to forty percent of students have not returned to campus,
with the perpetrator of the most brutal murder of four
University of Idaho's students still at large. A sister of
one of the victims posted on Instagram on Wednesday about
the severity of the case and warned U of I
students about the unsettled situation. To the students at the
University of Idaho that are still staying around campus, leave,
Aubrey Gonsalves said, sister of Kaylei Gonsovis, your grades are
severely less important than your lives. With a number of
students who had left campus early, UI has postponed a
candlelight vigil that had been planned for Wednesday night to
November thirtieth, even though the individual moved within an urban
setting early enough Sunday morning for some college students to
still be up. The perpetrator acted with stealth, so police
did not learn of the case for at least eight hours,
and by then the crime scene may have gone cold.
They have no suspect in custody, they have no murder weapon.
With what appears to be a changing story from the authorities,
people question whether they are willing to trust their lives
with what they're being told. A killer who committed a
mass murder in such a fashion and then escaped detection.
Heaped rarity upon rarity, possibly starstruck when The New York
Times called Moscow Mayor Art Betge called the homicide a
crime of passion. Once the Idaho Statesman of Boise got
in touch, Betge started backpedaling, it could be any number
of things. The police don't know yet. I haven't been told.
Speaking to the Statesman, Moscow police Captain Anthony Dollinger almost
sounded reluctant to characterize the episode as violent. All I
can say is the deaths a rule. The homicide at
this point, and homicide and murder are synonymous. We certainly
have a crime here, so we're looking for a suspect,
all of which created the impression of a murder investigation
mired in chaos. Students still have the option to attend
class virtually. President Scott green sid in a University of
Idaho communication detectives are continuing to process more than two thousand,
six hundred and forty five email tips, two thousand, seven
hundred and seventy phone tips, and one thousand and eighty
four digital media submissions from the public. They also said
they believe this is an isolated, targeted attack. And there
is no eminent threat to the community at large. Nearly
four weeks after four University of Idaho students were murdered
near campus, there are no suspects and many questions are
still unanswered as police try to piece together what happened.
They have released a limited amount of information. During the
seven week search for the killer. Law enforcement was hesitant
to release information to the public that could undermine the investigation.
This left an information vacuum, which allowed misinformation and rumors
to flourish. Videos of purported suspects appeared on social media,
and a so called psychic internet sleuth made false accusations
against a university professor. Groups were created to discuss the
murders and share information across social platforms. Many of these
groups quickly grew to thousands of members who shared rumors
and theories of what happened. Social influencers and crime sleuths
created podcasts and episodes covering the murders and updates. The
victims' families also made public statements venting their frustration with
law enforcement and the criminal justice process through traditional channels
and social media. Examples of this type of publicity are
as follows. We went from no danger to the community,
to a targeted attack, to one or more of the victims,
to being told to be vigilant with the lack of
any additional details that seems like a change. They tried
to alleviate the fears of the community while not harming
the integrity of the investigation. Unfortunately, that's what led to
a trust issue. Rumors circulated about who did it, even
going so far as deposit that one of the victims
did it. Others blame drugs. Additionally, online reports of the
victims being tied and gagged are not accurate. The police
stated rumors have circulated that the victims were bound and
gagged before being killed. Addressing misinformation, laniers said they do
not believe the following individuals or suspects. A driver who
took Madison Mogan and Kaylee Gansolves home on November thirteenth,
a man in a white hoodie seen at grub truck
and the surviving two roommates. A man who has called
multiple times by Madison and Kayley that night has also
been cleared. According to Chief of Police James Fry, the
MPD cand not release who made the nine to one
one call at eleven fifty eight A m but confirmed
it was made with one of the surviving roommate's phones
from inside the residence. The call is not believed to
have been made by the killer. The department also addressed
a rumor that the homicides are somehow connected to an
incident that occurred last month in which a couple of
dogs were found skinned in Moscow. The Moscow Police Department
addressed a Monday night incident allegedly involving a suspicious mail
on Blain Street that some speculated is connected to the
quadruple homicide case. Detectives are still investigating. A female told
the dispatcher she saw a mail in the front passenger
seat of her vehicle when she opened the car door.
The female, who was with her sister, slammed the door
and ran screaming from the car before calling nine one one.
A passer by allegedly told the sisters of seeing a
male chasing them, but left before speaking with officers. Online
reports created immediate speculation that implied there was a link
to this incident. With the ongoing homicide investigation, investigators have
looked into claims about Gonsalves may have had a stalker,
but have not been able to find evidence corroborating those statements,
but a mix of news reports that cited anonymous sources
and speculation on social media have persisted, alleging the FBI
was telling Coburger and asked that he'd be pulled over.
A federal judge heard arguments Friday morning in the case
involving a TikTok personality who accused a University of Idaho
professor of ordering the November thirteenth Moscow murders that left
four U of I students dead. Ashley Gallard, the TikTok personality,
continued to make accusations against Professor Rebecca Scolfield during Friday's
hearing in front of US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricio. Gollard
has accused Schofield of orchestrating the murders of Xana kernodle
Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Gonsalves, and Madison Mogan to cover up
having a romantic relaateationship with one of the victims. We
feel that the University of Idaho and the court put
us in a horrible position to have to have voice
our opinions. The Facebook post said, we all along have
just wanted the King rode home to not be demolished
and for us to have a trial date so that
we can look forward to justice being served. She also
said it has attracted YouTubers and others who try to
access the property or look for souvenirs. As the investigation
continues to go unresolved, The father of one of the
victims spoke to national media about his frustration with the investigation.
Steve Gonsalves told Fox News that the public should be
looking out for a sadistic male because the information he
received from Leyta County Coroner Kathy Mebbitt indicates the killers
a strong individual. I got outraged by them not just
coming out and saying this was a woman or a man,
because they should know by the amount of strength it
took to deliver the injuries. He told Fox News, They're
just being cowards. Gonsalvi said he does not know whether
his daughter or Mogan were the targets. They both died
in the same bed. I have my own suspicions, he said.
In a video statement to the Moscow Police Department YouTube channel,
Captain Roger lay Near said the policer seeing the tips
are geared more towards rumors instead of the facts that
have been released by law enforcement. He said that the
rumors and speculation have had a negative effect on the
victims' families and the friends of the victims, some of
whom have received death threats and harassment. All Right, we're
going to wrap up this episode right here, and in
the next episode, we're going to pick up where we
left off, and that's with during a December thirtieth, twenty
twenty two press conference. All of the information that goes
with this episode can be found in the description box.