Bryan Kherberger has autism, according to his main lawyer, who claims that the diagnosis means that he should not be confronted with the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted of the murders of the murders of a group of students from the University of Idaho who were murdered in an attack of 4 hours at home in November 2022.
“Bryan C. Kherbergerby and through His Attorneys of Record … Mere Moves This Court to Strike The Death Penalty As A Sentencing Option in His Case Because Mr. Kohberger’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death,” Anne Taylor wrote in a newly Onverwijderd, 28 pagina’s tellende Court request.
She argued that repetitive behavior such as fluctuating in place or Kherberger’s fail to make eye contact would be seen by jury members as “strange, got out of hand and even disrespectful for such a solemn procedure” or interpreted as guilt or shame. She said her client had been examined by Dr. Rachel Orr, who discovered that Kherberger’s autism has a “significant impact on his daily life”.
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Bryan Kherberger arrives in the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania prior to a hearing. He is accused of the murders of four students from the University of Idaho. (The image directly for Fox News Digital)
“The ASD of Mr. Kherberger manifests itself in many of these very adverse but completely involuntary way,” Taylor wrote. “Dr. ORR noted that he subtly fluctuates his upper body, especially while he deals with a cognitive task or listening to someone else – both are almost certain during his process.”
Kherberger, 30, studied for a Ph.D. In criminology at Washington State University at the time of the crimes.
He is accused of a carefully planned attack so that four students are killed at the University of IdahoJust 10 miles away. They were the 21-year-old best friends Madison Mag and Kaylee Goncalves, their 20-year-old roommate Xana Kernodle, and her friend, Ethan Chapin, also 20.
Anne Taylor, a lawyer who represents Bryan Kherberger, arrives during a hearing in the Latah district court, September 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
Two other young women in the house survived the massacre, including someone who told the police that she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” leave the house, possibly wear a vacuum.
Taylor argued that Kherberger’s autism has resulted in “extreme inflexibility” and hinders him from participating in his own Defense in the process.
“Mr. Kherberger shows extremely rigid thinking, perseveres about specific topics, processes information based on a piece, struggles to plan ahead and shows little insight into his own behavior and emotions,” she wrote.
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Madison may, in the top left, laughs on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, posing with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in the last Instagram Post of Goncalves, shared the day before the four students were stung. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
She claimed that her client’s communication skills are so insufficient that he has difficulty helping his own defense and that his lack of social consciousness “will probably create an unjust impressed impression of a lack of regret” for jury members.
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She also renewed her criticism of widespread media attention for the case, with the argument that reporting on the “Brutal and shocking” murders Could autism outweigh as a mitigating factor in the conviction if he is convicted, in the heads of jury members.
Separately, Taylor asked the court to prohibit officers of the judiciary to use the diagnosis as an aggravating factor.
“Because of his autism, others can see Bryan as not recognizing social signals, keep talking to others when the conversation would naturally end, too much focus on a subject or hobby of interest or repeatedly talking about the same subject, using a complicated vocabulary, or seeming to be absorbed,” she wrote. “Bryan’s autism is also accompanied by obsessive compulsivity and an eating disorder.”
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Bryan Kherberger in a Latah County Court for his January 5, 2023, first appearance. (Pool)
However, the application is a long shot according to legal experts. Judge Steven Hippler has already rejected an earlier defense movement to start the intention of persecution to seek the death penalty.
“Autism can be limited during the Process Process, but Autism will not prevent the application of the death penalty,” said Matthew Mangino, a former public prosecutor In Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and an expert in the field of capital sentences.
Under the current precedent, the death penalty would be excluded against young people and people who are intellectually disabled, he said. Autism is not an intellectual handicap.
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Bryan Kherberger appears in the court in Moscow, Idaho on October 26, 2023. (Kai Eiselein/Pool)
“Even serious mental disorders” would not save a suspect in a similar case, he said. In addition, public prosecutors have noticed in the court applications that Idaho’s law has no insanity defense or mental situation has a defense against charging.
In his own application, prosecutors asked the judge to block the testimony of experts about the neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations of Kohbberger.
“However, Kherberger’s motion is a brave effort from his defense team to get the death penalty off the table, however, will not be successful,” says Edwina Elcox, a boise-based defense lawyer whose previous customers Lori Vallow are. “The claim that Kherberger’s autism spectrum disorder reduces its fault will not be enough to hit the death penalty in Idaho, the state that recovered by shooting a team in 2023.”
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The test starts in Boise on 11 August after years of delays and a change in location.
Judge John Judge, Latah County, did not guilty on behalf of Kherberger in his vain in May 2023.
