MOSCOW, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger is behind bars at the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania after being accused of killing four University of Idaho students over 2,500 miles away.
Officials brought him there after he was arrested early Friday morning. He will stay at the facility until his hearing in court Tuesday, where his attorney shared he's planning to waive his extradition hearing.
"All that means is that he is not planning to fight his transport back to Idaho," Criminal Justice Assistant Professor Dr. Danielle Slakoff said. "So, he essentially will accept that transport back to Idaho."
Slakoff, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Sacramento State University, explained what the legal phrase "extradition" means and why a suspect would choose to do this.
"My take on waiving that extradition hearing is that he is ready to have his day in court to see the charges against him because they have not actually released the information that they have leading to his arrest yet," Slakoff said. "So, I really take that to mean that he's ready to see what they have on him. And he is hoping to be absolved of what you know, being absolved of guilt or blame."
In addition to sharing a plan to waive extradition, this weekend, Kohberger's attorney shared a statement on behalf of his client.
He says quote:
"Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible."
Slakoff says the use of "exonerated" in this statement jumped out at her.
"When someone's exonerated, generally, that means they've already been convicted and sentenced," Slakoff said. "So, it is an interesting choice of words by him, reportedly, that he used the word exonerated."
She says she's surprised he didn't use the word "acquitted," which means being found not guilty.
In a court of law, suspects are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Despite the noted interesting choice of words, Kohberger's attorney says at this time, his client also deserves that presumption of innocence.
Bryan Kohberger is expected to appear in Pennsylvania court on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. eastern time, which is 12:30 p.m. our time.
Following that hearing, he will be transported to Idaho as early as this week. There, he'll face first-degree murder and felony burglary charges against him.
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