BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A judge says a former roommate of four University of Idaho students who were killed in 2022 can testify about seeing an intruder with “bushy eyebrows” around the time of the crime.
Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger had asked 4th District Judge Steven Hippler during a hearing earlier this month to bar any evidence referencing “bushy eyebrows," because they say the roommate's description is unreliable and irrelevant to the case.
But in a ruling released Friday, Hippler said the testimony can be used during Kohberger's trial on four murder charges set to begin later this year.
Kohberger, 30, is charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger, then a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the deaths. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
When asked to enter a plea to the charges, Kohberger stood silent, prompting the judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The roommate told police she saw someone wearing black clothing and a ski mask inside the home she shared with four roommates sometime before 4:19 a.m. on the day of the killings, according to court documents.
She was intoxicated at the time, and told police she couldn't remember any other facial characteristics but that the intruder's bushy eyebrows stood out in her memory.
Kohberger's defense attorneys noted that the roommate also constantly questioned what she saw, that her attention was influenced by sleepiness and alcohol, and that her opportunity to see the intruder was seconds at most.
Allowing her to testify about bushy eyebrows when she couldn't provide enough details to allow a police artist to do a composite sketch would be unfair and prejudicial, causing a jury to believe Kohberger is guilty because of his eyebrows, his attorneys said.
But the judge disagreed.
“There is a large gulf between a finding that a witness is not competent to testify about what they personally witnessed, and simply allowing impeachment by vigorous cross-examination,” Hippler wrote. “This is a matter for cross-examination.”
Hippler also said that if Kohberger is convicted, his defense team can't use his medical diagnoses to explain his “courtroom demeanor” unless Kohberger takes the stand during the penalty phase.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to bar any testimony during the penalty phase about Kohberger's autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as the developmental coordination disorder that Kohberger may have experienced in childhood.
The prosecution team said they didn't want mental conditions to be used to try to limit Kohberger's culpability if he is convicted.
But the defense team said they didn't plan on doing that at all, and that instead his autism spectrum diagnosis would be used to explain some of Kohberger's courtroom demeanor, like his tendency to hold eye contact for longer than expected, his ability to sit very still and his stoicism.
The judge said he hadn't noticed any strange behavior.
“Not once has the Court perceived Defendant to be acting in an odd or incongruent manner or otherwise demonstrating signs at counsel table that would warrant any explanation to the jury. His demeanor has been entirely appropriate,” Hippler wrote.
Introducing evidence about the autism spectrum diagnosis would likely confuse the jury and take up an undue amount of time in an already long trial, he said.
Still, the judge said, Kohberger's demeanor might become relevant if he takes the stand to testify. Kohberger's OCD diagnosis also might be relevant at some point, Hippler said, particularly since the defense team has said it causes Kohberger to experience sleep difficulties that led to a habit of nighttime driving and running to decompress.
If those scenarios arise during the trial, the judge said the attorneys should bring up the matter to him — outside the presence of the jury — so he can make a decision on whether the evidence should be introduced at that time.
FILE - Bryan Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted into court for a hearing in Latah County District Court, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was elected as mayor in his home city by a landslide, official results showed Tuesday, despite his detention by the International Criminal Court.
The Davao election board proclaimed Duterte won the race for Davao mayor, with the official tally showing that he garnered over 660,000 votes, or eight times as many as his closest rival. Elated supporters chanted “Duterte, Duterte” when the result was announced.
His youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao, was declared Davao vice mayor. His eldest son, Paolo, was reelected as a member of the House of Representatives, and two grandsons won in local races, an indication of the family’s continued influence.
“Duterte landslide in Davao!” his youngest daughter Veronica posted on Facebook
Partial unofficial results showed at least five candidates backed by the Duterte family were also among those leading the race for 12 Senate positions, in a stronger-than-expected showing in Monday's midterm elections. Pre-election surveys had indicated only two of them would emerge victorious.
The results come as a boost for Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, ahead of an impeachment trial in the Senate in July over a raft of charges including alleged misuse of public funds and plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and the House speaker.
Sara Duterte is considered a strong contender for the 2028 presidential race. But if convicted by the Senate, she will lose her job and will be disqualified from holding public office forever. To be acquitted, she needs at least nine of the 24 senators to vote in her favor.
Results of the Senate race will be known in a week. Apart from the five Duterte-backed candidates, the others leading in the top 12 included five others endorsed by Marcos and two opposition candidates.
While the senate race outcome was encouraging for Sara Duterte, the jury is still out on how the impeachment trial will go for her, said Jean Franco, a political science professor from the University of the Philippines. If damning evidence were raised against her, Franco indicated it could hurt her chances of an acquittal.
The Senate race unofficial results also showed that support for Marcos, whose approval rating fell in April, is dwindling and could turn up surprises in the 2028 elections, Franco added.
In a statement, Marcos thanked Filipinos who voted, saying “our democracy has renewed itself — peacefully, orderly and with dignity.”
“We may not have won every seat, but our work and mission continue,” he added.
The impeachment and Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the tribunal in The Hague came after Marcos and Sara Duterte’s ties unraveled over political differences and their competing ambitions. Duterte supporters slammed Marcos’s government for arresting and surrendering the former leader to a court whose jurisdiction his supporters dispute.
Nicknamed “the Punisher” and “Dirty Harry,” Duterte served as Davao's mayor for two decades before becoming president. He has been in the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity over a brutal war on illegal drugs that left thousands of suspects dead during his 2016-2022 presidency.
Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted and have exhausted all appeals.
Sara Duterte had told reporters after voting Monday that she was in talks with her father's lawyers on how he could take his oath as mayor despite being behind bars. She had said the vice mayor would likely be the acting mayor.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, center, arrives to cast her vote at a polling center in Davao City, southern Philippines, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manman Dejeto)
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte gestures as she speaks to the media during a press conference after casting her vote at a polling center in Davao City, southern Philippines, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manman Dejeto)
FILE - In this photo provided by the News and Information Bureau, Malacanang Palace, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, takes his oath before Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes during inauguration ceremony in Malacanang Palace, June 30, 2016 in Manila, Philippines. Holding the bible is President Duterte's daughter Veronica. Others in photo are Duterte's children, from right, Paolo Duterte, Sarah Duterte and Sebastian Duterte. (The News and Information Bureau, Malacanang Palace via AP, file)
