Reply to Objection to Motion to Trifurcate

Electronically Filed
10/24/2024 2:12 PM

Fourth Judicial District, Ada County Trent Tripple, Clerk of the Court Anne Taylor Law, PLLC 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
DEFENDANT'S MOTION AND

V. MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF

MOTION ΤΟ TRIFURCATE THE

BRYAN C. KOHBERGER, PROCEEDINGS AND APPLY RULES OF

EVIDENCE DURING THE ELIGIBILITY

Defendant. PHASE COMES NOW, Bryan C. Kohberger, by and through his attorneys of record, and submits the following Reply to the State's Objection to his Motion and Memorandum in Support of
REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION AND MEMORANDUM
IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO TRIFURCATE THE PROCEEDINGS AND APPLY RULES
OF EVIDENCE DURING THE ELIGIBILITY PHASE Page 1

Motion to Trifurcate the Proceedings and to Apply the Rules of Evidence During Eligibility Phase.

The State objects to the idea of a trifurcated proceeding on the grounds that it is not contemplated by statute, difficult in practice and objectionable in post-conviction proceedings.

As to the statutory scheme, nothing in the statute prevents trifurcation. As it states in I.R.E 611, it is important for a Court to decide how evidence should be presented to arrive at the truth. Mr. Kohberger argues that trifurcation would be helpful in that regard for the various reasons he has argued.

As to how difficult it is to do – Mr. Kohberger's attorney Mr. Logsdon was of counsel in Renfro and took part in the trifurcation in that case which was not difficult. Whatever postconviction counsel may think about how it was handled in that case, it certainly was not awkward or difficult to do – and the fact that various other jurisdictions Mr. Kohberger has already listed in his motion affirms that.

Mr. Kohberger would note that the State's example of what may cause confusion – the propensity aggravator – is actually a good example of why that statutory aggravator ought to be struck entirely. It simply is not the sort of aggravator that should exist in the eligibility phase.

The real problem this Court has to grapple with is the hodge podge death sentencing scheme Idaho has due to its transition from a judge as sentencer to jury as sentencer state. It is one thing to throw all of this information at a trained lawyer and expect to get a well-reasoned decision, and quite another to do it to twelve citizens with no formal training. Add to this that the case law itself on what aspects of the scheme should help the selection process as opposed to the sentencing process, and it can feel like too much to try and figure out how to provide jurors with a logical and understandable system. However, that is the job that must be done. To get there, Mr. Kohberger has not only requested a trifurcated trial, he has also pointed out that each
REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION AND MEMORANDUM
IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO TRIFURCATE THE PROCEEDINGS AND APPLY RULES
OF EVIDENCE DURING THE ELIGIBILITY PHASE Page 2

of the statutory aggravators in this case have crippling flaws. Assuming this Court determines that any of them survive scrutiny, a trifurcated proceeding is the only reasonable way to proceed.

DATED this 24 day of October, 2024.

Jay Lessder
BY:

JAY W. LOGSDON

FIRST DISTRICT PUBLIC DEFENDER

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 Del
REPLY TO STATE'S OBJECTION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION AND MEMORANDUM
IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO TRIFURCATE THE PROCEEDINGS AND APPLY RULES
OF EVIDENCE DURING THE ELIGIBILITY PHASE Page 3