Kohberger’s team: Autism should negate Idaho death penalty. Experts say it’s a stretch
Bryan Kohberger listens to arguments during a hearing, Oct. 26, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho.
Kai Eiselein/New York Post via AP, Pool, File
Attorneys for Moscow murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, in their latest attempt to avoid capital punishment for their client if he is convicted, have asked the judge to consider setting a new legal precedent in Idaho regarding how autism is classified in death penalty cases.
The 30-year-old’s public defense team asked 4th District Judge Steven Hippler to remove consideration of the death penalty, and its motion hinges on the premise that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on intellectual disabilities should be expanded to include people with autism spectrum disorder. That 2002 decision concluded that people with severe intellectual impairment must be exempt from a death sentence.
His attorneys argued in filings last month that Kohberger’s autism diagnosis shares similarities with an intellectual disability, and “exposes him to the unacceptable risk” that he’ll be wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He faces four counts of first-degree murder in the killing of four University of Idaho students, and if he’s convicted, prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
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