Idaho murder suspect's lawyers demand trial postponement over 'prejudicial' TV special

Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger who has been accused of killing four University of Idaho students are asking that his trial be delayed The court filing cites that a fresh NBC Dateline special has caused prejudice towards Kohberger and that they now need additional time to prepare The defense also believes that moving forward would infringe on Kohberger s constitutional rights JUDGE SAYS GAG ORDER 'LIKELY' VIOLATED IN BRYAN KOHBERGER'S IDAHO MURDER AFFAIR Motion to Continue due to the substantial amount of trial inspection and preparation still outstanding as well as new and forthcoming publicity that is highly prejudicial to the defense the filing explained Any conviction and sentence resulting from a capital trial beginning in August will be unconstitutionally imposed and therefore vulnerable to reversal on direct or collateral review New information about the murders was presented during the May NBC Dateline initiative which included surveillance footage from a nearby house The surveillance video revealed a car similar to Kohberger's that was in the area of the King Road house several times just before the four students were killed IDAHO APPRENTICE MURDERS BRYAN KOHBERGER'S FAMILY COULD BE QUESTIONED TO TESTIFY AGAINST HIM COURT DOCS REVEALThe episode also suggested that certain of the information aired was nonpublic According to the documents the material was obtained from sources close to the assessment Kohberger s attorneys also brought up concerns regarding an upcoming book on the situation They claim in the filing that the book's promotional blurb implies the information leaked to the Dateline crew was not the only situation A continuance is necessary to fully investigate the leaks and to mitigate the prejudicial effects of such inflammatory pretrial publicity occurring so close to the current trial date it stated Forensic expert and Jacksonville State University Professor Joseph Scott Morgan advised Fox News Digital there's a jeopardy that the TV episode on Kohberger will taint the jury pool I think the first place you have to look is the tainting of the pool of the jury pool Morgan explained Progressively it becomes more and more demanding because people form opinions they put things out there that are not true and you still have yet to pick a jury And it's not like you're going to Manhattan You're talking about Ada County Idaho You have a limited pool of anticipated jurors there