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Bryan Kohberger Seeks Judge’s Removal From Post-Conviction Case
Bryan Kohberger Seeks Judge’s Removal From Post-Conviction Case
Bryan Kohberger’s lawyers asked to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler from proceedings over his guilty plea, citing the judge’s sentencing description of him as a “faceless coward.”
Bryan Kohberger is seeking to remove Judge Steven Hippler from the post-conviction proceedings in his University of Idaho murder case, arguing that comments made at sentencing have called the judge’s impartiality into question.
Hippler presided over the 2025 case in which Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students and received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Kohberger admitted killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in their home in 2022. He did not provide a motive. Before imposing the sentence under the plea agreement, Hippler called him a “faceless coward.”
In July 2026, Kohberger submitted a petition seeking to reopen the case. A post-conviction relief form said he entered the guilty plea because of threats, false promises and inaccurate information.
He now wants to withdraw that plea and enter a not-guilty plea. Hippler is currently assigned to consider the post-conviction petition, meaning Kohberger must first prevail in proceedings before the same judge who sentenced him.
Idaho attorney Greg Rausch, newly representing Kohberger, filed the motion to disqualify Hippler. The filing relied on the judge’s “faceless coward” statement and also raised constitutional issues.
Another defense lawyer, Manhattan-based Jason Goldman, said the request was not an attack on the court or an attempt to obtain special treatment. He said the constitutional questions should be heard in a forum whose neutrality could not reasonably be questioned.
Goldman argued that it would create an inherent conflict for Hippler to decide the issues surrounding the plea. He said the events in the days before Kohberger pleaded guilty required independent judicial examination.
According to Goldman, some circumstances connected to the plea are already public while others are not. He said the defense intends to present evidence and rely on the formal legal process, adding that further information will emerge.
L. Araujo--JDB
