Moscow attorney tapped to represent Kohberger in renewed push for a trial
ALEX BRIZEE / Idaho Statesman | Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 14 hours, 14 minutes AGO
As part of his plea deal last summer, Kohberger, 31, accepted no chance of parole and waived his appeal rights in exchange for avoiding a possible death sentence if he took his capital murder case to trial.
An attorney out of Moscow has been appointed to represent Bryan Kohberger — the man convicted of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022 — in his legal battle for a trial, according to recently published court filings.
Gregory R. Rauch, of The Law Office of Magyar, Rauch & Thie, PLLC, was assigned to handle the high-profile petition for post-conviction relief, online court filings showed.
Despite being a private defense attorney, Rauch was assigned to represent Kohberger by the Idaho State Public Defender’s Office through its Alternate Counsel Division.
When there is a conflict of interest between the state public defender’s office and the person it has been asked to represent, the alternative counsel division finds, hires and assigns a private attorney to represent the client instead. The public defender’s office was involved in Kohberger’s original case, and he alleged misconduct by his attorneys in his request for relief.
It’s not an uncommon practice in post-conviction proceedings. In fact, Rauch has been assigned to seven other post-conviction petitions throughout the state this year, according to a review of court records.
When reached by the Idaho Statesman, Rauch said he was getting up to speed on the case and didn’t have anything to comment on.
Judge Steven Hippler, of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District, sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences — plus 10 years for burglary — for the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin as part of a plea agreement with the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.
But now, about a year after he was sentenced, the 31-year-old is claiming he’s innocent of the November 2022 stabbings.
His petition isn’t an appeal, but it could offer him a similar pathway to have his sentence, or guilty plea, set aside. It’s also the approach someone takes when questioning the effectiveness of their attorneys — something Kohberger has done.
In his handwritten affidavit that was filed with the state’s court system, Kohberger alleged that he was “convinced to falsely confess” to the burglary and four murder charges by “coercion, disinformation, false promises and the withholding of exculpatory discovery.”
He “was convinced that actual guilt was not an important factor” in accepting his plea deal, as he could have faced the death penalty, he wrote. He was “advised to lie” by his defense team to gain a “legal victory” by entering “a false plea,” he added.
Originally from Moscow, Rauch graduated from Moscow High School in 1994 and attended the University of Idaho for his undergrad degree, according to his biography on the firm’s website.
He obtained his law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, a private nonprofit college in San Diego, in 2005 before returning to the Moscow area.
He has worked for the North Idaho law firm since 2006, focusing on “litigation inside the courtroom,” according to his biography. Rauch’s varied litigation experience includes over 20 jury and bench trials and numerous hearings on preliminary motions and injunctions in both state and federal courts, his biography read.