LATAH COUNTY, Idaho — A judge has ruled media cameras will no longer be permitted to record proceedings in the case against Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
The new ruling explains audio/visual coverage for future proceedings will be done exclusively by the Court. Media and the public are not allowed to video, photograph, audio record, or otherwise transmit during the proceedings.
This is just the latest update on ongoing efforts to limit camera access in the Latah County courtroom.
On September 8, a coalition of 14 media outlets led by the Associated Press filed a motion opposing the removal of cameras in the courtroom for proceedings related to the murders of four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home in November 2022.
The defendant, Bryan Kohberger, had filed a motion to have cameras removed. Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the brutal slayings.
The ruling to disallow media cameras was delivered last Friday, though affirms that a court-operated camera in the courtroom will stream the proceedings. The ruling is said to address the State's and the Defense's concerns of media-created sensationalism, as well as ensuring the public access to see the proceedings if they are not present in the courtroom.
Until now, the judge had continued to allow a single media camera to provide a broad picture of the proceedings, though both the prosecution and the defense have been against cameras in the courtroom from the onset.
In Idaho, the decision on limiting video, still photography, and audio recordings is up to the presiding judge and not eligible for appeal.
The order to deny the second motion to intervene and granting the defendant's motion to remove cameras from the courtroom clearly states:
It is the intense focus on Kohberger and his every move, along with adverse headlines and news articles, that leads the Court to conclude that continued photograph and video coverage inside the courtroom by the media should no longer be permitted.
