“Because of the fragmentation of the data, the missing data, the data that I look at that is incredibly inaccurate, anything that’s missing absolutely benefits the defense right now,” Ray tested, adding: “There’s a lack of other reports from which I cannot say that you benefit from Mr. Kohberger or the State.
He added that it is clear why some data is not available: “Is it human error? Is it accidental? Is this intentional?
What he has seen so far, he said, seems to “exonerate” Kohberger.
Ray, a former Arizona police detective, has demonstrated that he is usually an expert witness for prosecutors in criminal cases. His expertise has already come under scrutiny.
Earlier during Thursday’s hearing, a senior Moscow police investigator verified that thousands of hours of video had been collected in connection with a Hyundai Elantra that prosecutors say Kohberger was driving when he left his apartment in Washington state, 9½ miles from the scene of the murders. location in Moscow, Idaho.
Thursday’s testimony was part of an ongoing attempt by the defense to ask the judge to involve prosecutors in turning over some evidence during the discovery phase. DNA experts are expected to be summoned at a later closed-door hearing. Prosecutors argued they were not deliberately withholding information.
The slow pace of preliminary hearings and discussions weighing on such a high-profile case have only served to delay the trial and push the trial date to the spring or summer of 2025, frustrating the victims’ families, who say their ability to healing was hindered. .
Three of the victims: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20, lived in an apartment building near the University of Idaho, where they were students. Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, had been staying at our house and was also killed in early November. 13, 2022.
In an affidavit following Kohberger’s arrest weeks after the killings, prosecutors said he was linked to the scene through male DNA found on a knife sheath left in the victims’ apartment building. Investigators also said his cellphone use and video surveillance linked him to the crime.
Kohberger’s alibi maintains that he made nighttime trips and that these only increased over the course of the school year.