What does a gag order mean? Bryan Kohberger's defense team issues request

On Tuesday, January 3, 2023, Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a gag order granting the request filed by Bryan Kohberger's attorney.

The gag order is a judicial ruling that bans officials from disclosing any information in a case to the public. As per Fox News, defense attorney Bryan Kohberger reportedly filed requests for the gag order, impelling the Idaho judge to issue a non-dissemination order/gag order in connection to the murder of the four University of Idaho students.

According to the gag order, authorities are,

“ prohibited from making extrajudicial statements, written or oral, concerning this case, other than a quotation from or reference to, without comment, the public records.”

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Bryan Kohberger's attorneys filed for the gag order hours after his arrest

As per Fox News, the defense team representing Bryan Kohberger reportedly filed for a gag order hours after the suspect was arrested in Pennsylvania on December 30 in connection to the November 13 killings of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle.

After the request was granted, the Moscow police said that they would no longer be communicating with the public or the media. The statement read:

"The order prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defence attorney concerning this case. Due to this court order, the Moscow Police Department will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case."

In addition to stopping authorities from releasing any information on the case to the public, the defense attorney representing Kohberger also filed a request to stop authorities from cleaning up the crime scene area. The request to preserve the crime scene was made after law enforcement announced on December 30, 2022, that a crime scene remediation crew would begin work "removing potential biohazards and other harmful substances used to collect evidence."

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While the gag order stilled any further access to additional information in the case, it did not have any bearing on the probable cause affidavit that was released on January 5, on the day Kohberger was extradited to Idaho days after his arrest in Pennsylvania.

The arrest affidavit provided insight into the evidence that led to the arrest of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger. The evidence, among other things, included DNA obtained from inside a leather knife sheath found lying on the bed next to one of the victims.

Authorities matched the single-source male DNA found in the button snap of the knife sheath to the suspect after they recovered trash from Kohberger’s family home in Albrightsville shortly after he was detained.

While Kohberger is being held in the Latah County Jail as he awaits his next hearing scheduled for January 12, authorities have yet to reveal the motive or the possible link between the suspect and the four victims.