An attorney representing the family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four students killed in their Moscow, Idaho home late last year, claims an “overbroad and vague” gag order imposed by the judge in the case violates his client’s rights to free speech.
Lawyer Shanon Gray filed his appeal Friday on behalf of the family of Goncalves, who prosecutors say defendant Bryan Kohberger murdered in the early morning of Nov. 13. The 21-year-old was killed brutally and “fast,” her father told ABC News before Judge Megan Marshall imposed a Jan. 18 gag order stopping the victims’ families and their attorneys from speaking about the case.
A previous gag order applied to lawyers involved in Kohberger’s trial and law enforcement agents.
The Goncalves’ family attorney contended Friday the victim’s families are not parties to the case nor is he. As such, he argues they should be allowed to offer statements on their behalf to media organizations. Gray complained the order extends beyond jury selection, at which point information in the media wouldn’t prejudice the court.
Dozens of local media organizations, including the Idaho Statesman, reportedly signed a petition asking the court to ease its gag order. Attorneys involved in the case seem to side with the judge.
A prosecutor called the Goncalves family “potential witnesses in this case, including at trial and/or sentencing” in an affidavit filed Wednesday, Utah station KTVV reported. Defense attorneys for the 28-year-old suspect argued Gray’s status as the Goncalves’ lawyer makes him privy to information that could prejudice the court.
The court hasn’t ruled on Friday’s appeal. A preliminary hearing in the quadruple murder case for Kohberger — who was arrested in Pennsylvania after a six-week investigation — is scheduled for June 26.
An attorney handling the defendant’s extradition to Idaho said in December the former criminal justice teaching assistant is “eager to be exonerated” in the killings of Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21 Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.