Court Filing
Electronically Filed 10/24/2024 2:12 PM Fourth Judicial District, Ada County Anne Taylor Law, PLLC Trent Tripple, Clerk of the Court By: Jennifer Keyes, Deputy Clerk Anne C. Taylor, Attorney at Law PO Box 2347 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83816 Phone: (208) 512-9611 iCourt Email: info@annetaylorlaw.com Jay W. Logsdon, First District Public Defender Idaho State Public Defender 1450 Northwest Blvd. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83814 Phone: (208) 605-4575 Elisa G. Massoth, PLLC Attorney at Law P.O. Box 1003 Payette, Idaho 83661 Phone: (208) 642-3797; Fax: (208)642-3799 Assigned Attorney: Anne C. Taylor, Attorney at Law, Bar Number: 5836 Jay W. Logsdon, First District Public Defender, Bar Number: 8759 Elisa G. Massoth, Attorney at Law, Bar Number: 5647 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF ADA STATE OF IDAHO CASE NUMBER CR01-24-31665 Plaintiff, REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION ΤΟ V. DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE HAC AGGRAVATOR BRYAN C. KOHBERGER, Defendant. COMES NOW, Bryan C. Kohberger, by and through his attorneys of record, and submits the follow Reply to the State's Objection to his Motion to strike the HAC aggravator from the notice of intent to seek death. REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE HAC AGGRAVATOR Page 1 The State argues that the HAC in Idaho is constitutional based on the judicial gloss from Osborn. The State argues that Verska v. St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, 151 Idaho 889, 896, 265 P.3d 502, 509 (2011), does not change the Idaho Supreme Court's ability to change the law. Mr. Kohberger does not know exactly what the State's authority is for this conclusion the State appears to be comparing the idea of rewriting unambiguous laws with limiting constructions and finding a difference. State's Brief at 4. What that difference is is not defined. The State does not argue that the HAC is ambiguous. If the State agrees that it is ambiguous, the State provides no case that permits the Idaho Supreme Court to rewrite the statute to clarify it. The larger issue – that the United States Supreme Court suddenly created the power to rewrite statutory language to preserve the death penalty goes essentially unanalyzed in the State's objection. Again, even if this Court cannot overrule the Idaho Supreme Court, it can acknowledge where its holdings violate the principles of law upon which our system was founded. The State then takes up the differences between the ICJI and Osborn, and notes that they match. Counsel for Mr. Kohberger admits that in May of this year the ICJI was amended to reflect the language of the opinion. However, that merely reinforces his original argument – that this aggravator was not written by the legislature but rather by the Idaho Supreme Court. Mr. Kohberger cannot be put to death on the grounds of an aggravator that was not adopted by the legislature. DATED this 24 day of October, 2024. Jay Lessderr BY: JAY W. LOGSDON FIRST DISTRICT PUBLIC DEFENDER REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE HAC AGGRAVATOR Page 2 CERTIFICATE OF DELIVERY I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was personally served as indicated below on the 24 day of October, 2024 addressed to: Latah County Prosecuting Attorney –via Email: paservice@latahcountyid.gov Elisa Massoth – via Email: legalassistant@kmrs.net Jay Logsdon – via Email: Jay.Logsdon@spd.idaho.gov Ingrid Batey – via Email: ingrid.batey@ag.idaho.gov Jeff Nye – via Email: jeff.nye@ag.idaho.gov Dunl REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE HAC AGGRAVATOR Page 3