(NewsNation) — In a final pretrial, a judge ruled the August trial of Bryan Kohberger, charged with killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, will be livestreamed.
The judge ruled that the jury selection process will not be livestreamed, although the public will be able to watch from a room inside the courtroom. The jury will not be sequestered initially, but the court will have a plan in place in case media coverage makes it necessary to do so.
Kohberger is facing the death penalty in the killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho.
All four students were stabbed to death, setting off a hunt for a suspect in the weeks following the crime. Eventually, Kohberger, a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested.
Investigators said they used genetic genealogy to identify Kohberger, evidence that has proven controversial. The defense suggests it was obtained illegally.
The August trial will take place in Boise after it was moved from Latah County, where the killings took place.
Judge Steven Hippler has already ruled on what evidence will be allowed at trial. Hippler has also rejected arguments from the defense about why Kohberger shouldn’t be subject to the death penalty.
Both sides have also presented proposed jury questions, but those documents remain under seal.
