Bryan Kohberger is the guy accused of murdering four students at the University of Idaho. Nearly two years later his trial has recently been tentatively set for next July. Nevertheless, his attorneys are flooding the zone with motions in an attempt to save him. Their latest effort is an attempt to get the death penalty off the table.

In 13 new filings Thursday, the defense cited the U.S. and Idaho Constitutions in its request to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence if a jury finds Kohberger guilty of murder.

“The process provided to Mr. Kohberger up to this point has failed to adequately protect him from being arbitrarily selected for the death penalty,” one filing read...

Prosecutors have said they intend to press for the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. Under Idaho law, a person can only be sentenced to death (as opposed to life in prison) if the prosecutions introduces aggravating factors which add to the heinous nature of the crime. In this case, the prosecution has put forward five reasons why Kohberger should be eligible for the death penalty.

In this case, prosecutors asserted five such factors: that there were multiple murders, that the murders were committed amid another crime (felony murder), that Kohberger exhibited “utter disregard for human life,” that he “has exhibited a propensity to commit murder” and so poses a future danger to society, and that the murders were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel."

But the motions filed yesterday take issue with all of these reasons. For instance, one factor is if a murder is committed while the offender is committing another felony crime. In this case, prosecutors have said the crime of burglary is the additional crime. But the defense says the burglary was done to commit the murders not the other way around and therefore this shouldn't be an aggravating factor. 

More broadly, the defense is arguing that Idaho's means of execution (lethal injection or firing squad) are cruel and unusual and therefore unconstitutional. They also argue that the whole concept of the death penalty is outdated and doesn't fit with modern standards. 

"The vast majority of modern, civilized society has already abolished capital punishment because the execution of human beings by governments is recognized to be a violation of the dignity and spirit of human beings," his attorneys wrote. "The institutional killing of civilian prisoners affronts the modern, civilized world. The United States has been routinely condemned by the international community for continuing to execute its own people."

Prosecutors have until Tuesday to respond to all of this. My guess is none of it will matter in the long run apart from it being one more delay added to this case. 

Speaking of delays, the defense is also working overtime to get the trial moved out of the county where the crimes took place, claiming Kohberger can't possibly get a fair trial there. A hearing on that motion was held last week.

Led by attorney Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s defense seeks to move his murder trial to the courthouse in Boise, about 300 miles south of Moscow. Idaho’s capital city, situated in the state’s largest county, gives Kohberger his best shot at an unbiased jury pool following a deluge of prejudicial media coverage against her client, she said...

Latah County has become “utterly corrupted,” which has created a “mob mentality within the community,” Kohberger’s defense argued in court filings leading up to Thursday’s in-person showdown on the venue change issue. Results from a phone survey about the high-profile case conducted by hired trial consultant prove it must be moved elsewhere, Taylor said.

Mass murder of college students does tend to upset people. Kohberger deserves a trial but frankly I don't think it will matter where it is held. Maybe a shift to Boise would decrease the chances of conviction from 100% down to 97% but either way it looks like prosecutors have enough evidence to get him.

As for the death penalty, I still support it and think that (if he's convicted) Kohberger is a perfect example of the type of person who has earned it. Sneaking into a home at night and murdering four people with a knife, apparently to fulfill some sick personal fixation, is not the type of crime that deserves any mercy from the public.