1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,879
Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the program. The

2
00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:07,799
battle over Brian Kolberger and his alibi continues to rage

3
00:00:08,359 --> 00:00:11,720
in Moscow, with the prosecutors saying that they want to

4
00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,519
limit Brian Coberger's alibi in the case, and the defense, well,

5
00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,399
they fired back that they want to have the DNA

6
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,920
records unsealed. So, like usual, we have a lot of

7
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,839
contention up here in Idaho as both sides try to

8
00:00:25,879 --> 00:00:28,399
pound home their narrative. And I find it interesting that

9
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,920
all of a sudden, Brian Koberger and his team they

10
00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,479
want to have things unsealed. What does that even mean?

11
00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,359
I thought we didn't want to prejudice the jury pool,

12
00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:40,079
so how could we have things unsealed? See, Brian Colberger

13
00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,280
wants it both ways, and up to this point, Judge

14
00:00:43,359 --> 00:00:47,119
Judge has pretty much bent over backwards to make sure

15
00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,280
that Brian Coberger gets a fair shake. And all you

16
00:00:50,359 --> 00:00:51,840
have to do is take a look at what went

17
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,840
down with Harvey Weinstein and you'll see why Judge Judge

18
00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,920
is doing what he's doing now. I know a lot

19
00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,840
of people out there are not happy with it, and

20
00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,159
I don't like the delay either. I think this show

21
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,640
needs to get on the road. But I also think

22
00:01:03,679 --> 00:01:06,400
that the process matters, and we have to make sure

23
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,840
that the prosecution is doing things the right way. And

24
00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,640
so far, in my opinion anyway, this has been a

25
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,799
master class of how to prosecute somebody up in Idaho.

26
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,760
I mean, just take a look at the shit show

27
00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,359
with Karen Reid, or take a look at what's going

28
00:01:21,359 --> 00:01:24,680
on down in Delphi, because that is an absolute circus

29
00:01:24,719 --> 00:01:28,799
down there, and thankfully this hasn't descended into anything even

30
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,159
close to that. So with that in mind, let's get

31
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,280
right to this article from the Idaho Statesman and let's

32
00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:39,280
see what Kevin Fixler has for us. Headline. Prosecutors want

33
00:01:39,359 --> 00:01:43,480
alibi limited in Idaho's student murder case. Defense seeks DNA

34
00:01:43,599 --> 00:01:49,200
records unsealed. This article was authored by Kevin Fixler. Prosecutors

35
00:01:49,239 --> 00:01:52,280
are urging the judge in the Moscow College student murders

36
00:01:52,359 --> 00:01:56,799
case to reject defendant Brian Koberger's alibi, submitted earlier this

37
00:01:56,879 --> 00:02:00,000
month and limit how his defense can present the evidence

38
00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,680
a trial. Well, you would think so, right, considering the

39
00:02:03,719 --> 00:02:06,799
alibi as complete rubbish. Oh yeah, I was out having

40
00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:10,879
a drive. Who can confirm that? Who can corroborate that. Well,

41
00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,479
the answer is nobody, and that's why he used that

42
00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,879
as his defense, as his alibi. And furthermore, anybody who

43
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,240
knows anything about taking pictures knows that Brian Colberger isn't

44
00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,520
out there snapping shots of the sky with the cell phone,

45
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,479
at least not serious pictures. If you're looking to capture

46
00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,520
what's going on in the sky, you're gonna need a

47
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,240
better camera, right But according to his team, he's out

48
00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,080
here taking pictures of Venus and mercury like he's the

49
00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:41,199
human embodiment of the Hubble telescope. I don't think anyone's

50
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,680
buying it, and the prosecution certainly isn't buying it. Leta

51
00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,560
County Prosecutor, Bill Thompson argued in a written response that

52
00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:52,520
the defense has failed to meet the state's legal threshold

53
00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,599
to argue that Coburger was elsewhere than the crime scene

54
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,919
at the time of the November twenty twenty two quadruple homicide.

55
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,919
The document was filed Friday, but not posted to an

56
00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,560
Idaho court website until late Monday. The defendant supplemental alibi

57
00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:11,840
response continues to lack the specificity required by Idaho code.

58
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,400
Thompson wrote, the defendant is offering nothing new to his

59
00:03:15,439 --> 00:03:18,479
initial alibi that he was simply driving around during the

60
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,560
morning hours of November thirteenth, twenty twenty two. And that's

61
00:03:22,599 --> 00:03:24,879
really where it's at. If you don't have an alibi,

62
00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,280
you don't have one, and if you make one up, well,

63
00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,039
people are gonna call you out on your bullshit. Now,

64
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,439
of course, nobody can say for sure, well, Brian Colberger

65
00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,960
wasn't out driving, and that's why we have to have

66
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,639
this trial. We have to figure out what's what. The

67
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,000
State of Idaho has presented a whole ass tomb of

68
00:03:43,039 --> 00:03:47,240
evidence against Brian Colberger, and so far I haven't seen

69
00:03:47,599 --> 00:03:51,719
anything from Colberger's team that challenges even a little bit

70
00:03:51,759 --> 00:03:54,520
of that evidence. And as I've said from the beginning,

71
00:03:54,719 --> 00:03:57,120
I doubt we're gonna see that. How are you going

72
00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:00,879
to challenge that DNA on the knife sheath? Until they

73
00:04:00,879 --> 00:04:04,039
can figure that out, well they're gonna have big problems.

74
00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:07,719
And of course there is always prosecutorial misconduct. To try

75
00:04:07,759 --> 00:04:10,120
and hang your hat on and hope that something was

76
00:04:10,159 --> 00:04:14,159
a miss, you know, the loopholes and technicalities defense. But

77
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,120
is that something you really want to hang your hat

78
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,279
on or do you want to go out there and

79
00:04:18,319 --> 00:04:21,639
win on the merits of the evidence. The problem for

80
00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,240
people sometimes like Brian Colberger, in my opinion, is that

81
00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,759
there's no merit of the evidence for him to use. Instead,

82
00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,720
all he's left with is the it wasn't me defense,

83
00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,199
and we all know that that doesn't work so well

84
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,519
inside of a courtroom when there is a ton of

85
00:04:36,519 --> 00:04:40,040
evidence leading directly back to you. So you're gonna have

86
00:04:40,079 --> 00:04:42,279
to have an alibi. You're gonna have to have a witness,

87
00:04:42,319 --> 00:04:45,079
somebody that can say, look, I was with Coburger, we

88
00:04:45,079 --> 00:04:47,160
were hanging out. He's not the guy who did this,

89
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,160
and we haven't heard anything like that. All we heard

90
00:04:50,199 --> 00:04:52,079
is about this dude out on his little night drive

91
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,560
and taking pictures of the night sky in the middle

92
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,839
of nowhere. Coburger, twenty nine, is charged with four accounts

93
00:04:57,879 --> 00:05:00,199
of first degree murder in the stabbing death of the

94
00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:03,839
four University of Idaho students and faces the death penalty

95
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,759
if convicted. The victims were seniors Madison Mogan and Kaylee Gonsalvis,

96
00:05:08,759 --> 00:05:12,920
both twenty one, juniors Anna Kernodle, and freshman Ethan Chapin,

97
00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,639
both twenty Coburger's attorneys have said that their client, who

98
00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,079
was a graduate student at nearby Washington State University in

99
00:05:21,079 --> 00:05:23,800
Pullman at the time, was out driving his car alone

100
00:05:24,079 --> 00:05:27,839
when the crime took place. Police estimate the U of

101
00:05:27,879 --> 00:05:31,199
I undergrads were killed between four and four to twenty

102
00:05:31,199 --> 00:05:34,000
five am at an off campus home on King Road

103
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,560
in Moscow, which is located about nine miles east of Pullman.

104
00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,079
In response to prosecutors demands, Coburger's public defenders last summer

105
00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,839
filed a alibi that he was out for an overnight

106
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,240
drive by himself, as had long been his habit near

107
00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,319
the Idaho Washington state line. Oh, that's all just very

108
00:05:51,319 --> 00:05:54,040
convenient that this happens to be his habit, right, His

109
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,120
hobby is driving around that night and looking at the

110
00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,560
night sky? Is that really what you're going to try

111
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,480
and convince the jury of. Never mind us but the jury.

112
00:06:03,319 --> 00:06:05,439
So if that's going to be the defense, I say,

113
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,879
good luck. We knew that already and if that's his alibi,

114
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,079
so be it. Thompson encountered at a pre trial hearing

115
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,959
in August. At that time, leta County judge, John Judge

116
00:06:15,959 --> 00:06:19,560
of Idaho's second Judicial District, who is overseeing the case

117
00:06:19,959 --> 00:06:23,319
also referred to Colberger's claimed whereabouts as a so called

118
00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,319
alibi not really an alibi. Well, yeah, if nobody's there

119
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,800
to confirm it, if there is nobody to corroborate what

120
00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,240
you're saying, no video evidence or anything, then you could

121
00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,079
just say whatever you want. Right cops show up to arrescue,

122
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,199
you could be like, hey, it wasn't me. I was

123
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,319
busy on Mars Homie. Yeah. No, I was up there

124
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,800
with the rover and we were looking for alien life.

125
00:06:44,439 --> 00:06:46,519
Oh no, I don't have anything that corroborates that, but

126
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:48,879
just take my word for it. I'm sure the Jerry

127
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,040
is gonna suck that of folks. I'm sure they're just

128
00:06:51,079 --> 00:06:54,000
going to be so receptive to that alibi that that's

129
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,519
all they're gonna need to get Brian Colberger off. I mean,

130
00:06:56,519 --> 00:06:59,920
it's such a good alibi, it's such a ironclad alibi

131
00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,199
that nobody can challenge that. No holes can be poked in,

132
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:09,120
right right. He later granted the defense more time to

133
00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,360
bolster their alibi defense claim, which Idaho requires be claimed

134
00:07:13,399 --> 00:07:16,800
and filed ahead of the trials so prosecutors have adequate

135
00:07:16,839 --> 00:07:21,279
time to prepare to disprove it. Coberger was an avid runner, hiker,

136
00:07:21,399 --> 00:07:24,959
and moon and stargazer. His attorneys added in the most

137
00:07:24,959 --> 00:07:30,199
recent filing, including around southeastern Washington's huahbah Waie County Park

138
00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:34,279
the morning of the homicides, Coburger's cell phone data, including

139
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,519
late night photographs from the month of the homicides, prove

140
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,720
the claim and to sell tower data expert would lend

141
00:07:40,759 --> 00:07:44,680
partial corroboration of their client's alibi through testimony at trial.

142
00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,800
They wrote, Yeah, I'm sure that that's gonna stand. I'm

143
00:07:47,839 --> 00:07:51,360
sure that the expert that the prosecution brings up isn't

144
00:07:51,399 --> 00:07:55,000
gonna poo poo all over what Coburger's expert brings to

145
00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,319
the table. See, it's gonna be a battle of experts,

146
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,959
and it's gonna come down to all the evidence. Right,

147
00:08:01,399 --> 00:08:03,519
they're gonna pump fake and they're gonna try and make

148
00:08:03,519 --> 00:08:06,079
it about the digital evidence if it's in favor of

149
00:08:06,079 --> 00:08:09,079
Brian Colberger. But if it's not, forget it. All you're

150
00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,519
gonna hear is how we can't trust the cell phone pings,

151
00:08:11,839 --> 00:08:15,480
the towers are bad. How none of that matters. Meanwhile,

152
00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,240
his whole entire alibi is hinging on that. Since Coburger's

153
00:08:19,319 --> 00:08:22,800
arrest about seven weeks after the homicides. Police and prosecutors

154
00:08:22,839 --> 00:08:26,040
have alleged that the defendant cell phone stopped reporting to

155
00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,639
the areas cell tower network at the time of the

156
00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:33,519
homicides and was possibly intentionally turned off. Prosecutors ask judge

157
00:08:33,639 --> 00:08:35,960
to deny the defense's plan to use a cell tower

158
00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:39,480
data expert at trial and only allow Coburger to testify

159
00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:42,919
to his whereabouts if he chooses the location of the

160
00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,600
defendant cell phone at times other than the time of

161
00:08:45,639 --> 00:08:49,000
the homicides is not proof of or relevant to the

162
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,039
defendants specific location at the time of the homicides. Thompson wrote,

163
00:08:54,399 --> 00:08:56,360
see I think that they should let him use the data.

164
00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,279
I don't think any of it's gonna help him, And

165
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,519
for me, it's more about the appeal at the point,

166
00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,279
because I think that the evidence here is just so strong,

167
00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,080
and unless they can get some kind of procedural victory

168
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,559
where they can get rid of the knife sheath somehow,

169
00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,240
I don't see how they beat the DNA on that

170
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,679
knife sheath because that's the glue that holds everything together.

171
00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,320
So unless he can figure out how to deal with that,

172
00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,919
then it's going to be a very long road. Arguments

173
00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:24,600
set over closed hearing next month. In other legal filings Friday,

174
00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,360
Coberger's attorneys asked judge to allow investigators for the defense

175
00:09:28,639 --> 00:09:33,440
to review FBI's forensic genetic genealogy records. The advanced police

176
00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,320
investigative technique involves using DNA from a crime scene to

177
00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,240
build a family tree through public genealogy websites to narrow

178
00:09:41,279 --> 00:09:46,279
the list of possible suspects. The use of investigative genetic genealogy,

179
00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,759
or IgG in the case was not identified in the

180
00:09:49,759 --> 00:09:54,720
probable cause affidavid for Coburger's arrest. Thompson acknowledged six months

181
00:09:54,759 --> 00:09:58,840
later that the FBI employed the technique to initially arrive

182
00:09:58,919 --> 00:10:02,919
at Coburger as the homicide suspect, and Judge eventually awarded

183
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,320
the sealed records to the defense, but with some limits

184
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,759
on who could review them. On Friday, the defense also

185
00:10:09,879 --> 00:10:13,440
requested most of the IgG records to be unsealed, so

186
00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:17,000
you can guarantee that they think that that'll help Brian Coberger.

187
00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,519
Will it? I don't know. I haven't seen them. They're

188
00:10:19,519 --> 00:10:22,879
sealed still, but once they're unsealed, if they are unsealed,

189
00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,399
we'll dive into them and break it down. But as

190
00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,480
of now, even if they are unsealed, what are they

191
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,240
going to prove or show that we don't know already?

192
00:10:32,159 --> 00:10:34,919
There is simply no legitimate reason that the way the

193
00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,559
IgG procedures in the case took place should be shielded

194
00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:42,279
from the public. Roe J. Logsden, one of Coberger's public defenders.

195
00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,600
Most materials have been sealed in this case to protect

196
00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,240
the right of a fair trial. There is simply nothing

197
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:52,039
unfairly prejudicial about the way in which IgG was carried

198
00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,279
about by the state and its associates in this case.

199
00:10:55,919 --> 00:10:58,679
Judge also scheduled a hearing for Thursday morning to help

200
00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,120
decide whether another pre trial hearing set for May fourteenth,

201
00:11:02,279 --> 00:11:05,919
should be closed to the public. Prosecutors last week asked

202
00:11:05,919 --> 00:11:08,600
that the hearing be closed for arguments over the defense's

203
00:11:08,639 --> 00:11:12,480
demand for state evidence through the legal process known as discovery,

204
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,759
and Dan Taylor, Coburger's lead public defender, objected that it

205
00:11:16,799 --> 00:11:19,799
should be held in an open setting. The process of

206
00:11:19,879 --> 00:11:22,720
sealing is being abused by the state and its law

207
00:11:22,759 --> 00:11:26,519
enforcement agents, including the FBI, to hide how discovery is

208
00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:30,000
being withheld in the case, Taylor wrote, not only is

209
00:11:30,039 --> 00:11:33,240
there no authority to protect the FBI other law enforcement

210
00:11:33,279 --> 00:11:35,960
agents and the state in this matter. This request to

211
00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,200
deny mister Coburger an open hearing is a clear violation

212
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,159
of his right to a public trial. All of a sudden,

213
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,399
he wants the public trial. Huh okay, why don't you

214
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:46,399
go and ask for the whole ass gag order to

215
00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,159
be removed. Let's get down with something like that. Huh oh, wait,

216
00:11:50,159 --> 00:11:52,279
you don't want to do that. Oh okay. So it's

217
00:11:52,279 --> 00:11:55,840
not about transparency in general, it's about what helps you,

218
00:11:56,279 --> 00:11:59,039
got it. Judge has not set a date for Coburger's

219
00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,919
anticipated trial. A June twenty seventh hearing is scheduled for

220
00:12:03,039 --> 00:12:06,759
arguments over a possible venue change outside of Letah County.

221
00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:10,240
So I don't think he's going to get that venue change. Now.

222
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,960
He might get jurors from a different county to come

223
00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,799
and sit in as the jurors for his trial, but

224
00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,960
I don't think it's going to get moved. But after

225
00:12:18,039 --> 00:12:20,799
the hearing on Thursday, we'll have another recap and we'll

226
00:12:20,799 --> 00:12:23,919
see what went down and where we currently stand in

227
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,080
the State of Idaho's case against Brian Coohberger. All of

228
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,080
the information that goes with this episode can be found

229
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:32,519
in the description box,