Bryan Kohberger filed the petition in Ada County Court, claiming that evidence found on one victim supports his innocence
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Bryan-Kohberger-petition-3-072726-93cf79e8adcb4c4fbba85460ee310f08.jpg "Bryan Kohberger's Petition Claiming He Was Coerced Into Pleading Guilty")
Credit: Kyle Green-Pool/Getty; Ada County Court
Bryan Kohberger is seeking to overturn his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students, claiming in a newly filed petition that he was pressured into falsely confessing.
Kohberger alleges that his attorneys withheld potentially exculpatory evidence, misled him about the consequences of pleading guilty and relied on threats and false promises to persuade him to accept the deal.
Below is the text of his petition.
It is hereby declared that, during attorney-client discussions, most of which included all members of Brian C. Kohberger‘s immediate family, petitioner was convinced to falsely confess to capital murder, and felony burglary, by coercion, disinformation, false promises and withholding of exculpatory discovery; the following is material to the inception of the plea: 1. Counsel’s failure to inform petitioner of exculpatory discovery received during plea discussions, namely clumps of unknown hair found in Ethan Chapin‘s hands; as well as a failure of further inquiry.
Credit: Ada County Court
Credit: Ada County Court
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
2. Petitioner was convinced that actual guilt was not an important factor in considering plea acceptance: death row was imminent, and, advised to lie, petitioner was to gain a “legal victory“ in entering a false plea.
3. A gross misrepresentation of, and promises regarding, what a life sentence would immediately afford petitioner; and a gross misrepresentation of death row in Idaho, including an elaborate, fabricated story of counsel’s horrific experience touring an actual “8 x 8” death row cell, all communicated to petitioner and his family, allegedly by IDOC, through counsel, thus constituting threats and promises may to induce a plea agreement.
