Bryan Kohberger’s trial could be delayed further depending on an upcoming decision from the new judge in the case.

Kohberger made his first appearance in Ada County Court on Thursday afternoon in Boise for a status conference hearing.

The hearing mainly focused on the case’s upcoming schedule, including Kohberger’s trial. Latah County District Judge John Judge scheduled the trial to begin June 2 and run through the end of August.

Kohberger’s attorney Anne Taylor told Ada County Judge Steven Hippler about the challenges her team is facing when it comes to meeting that deadline.

Taylor said her team recently received nearly 400 gigabytes of information from the FBI that they are still reviewing.

She also said a mitigation expert they hired for their defense recently died, and it will take time for the expert’s replacement to finish their work.

Taylor said there is also some uncertainty about her public defense contract when a new Idaho law takes effect Tuesday.

Under that new law, public defense will be paid for and coordinated through the State Public Defender instead of the counties. Taylor said she does not have a new contract with the state yet, and is unsure how her team will continue to get funding.

Hippler said he has concerns about the trial taking place during the summertime because the jurors may have children who are out of school during those months.

Before Kohberger’s case was moved to Ada County, the trial was set during the summer to avoid conflict with Moscow High School, which is located across the street from the Latah County Courthouse.

Hippler proposed starting Kohberger’s trial in May 2025, or delaying it to September 2025 to avoid burdening jurors with children.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson advocated for a May start date. Taylor preferred to begin the trial in September.

Hippler expressed confidence that Taylor’s contract issues will be worked out, and that her team could be prepared for a May start date.

“May is not tomorrow,” he said. “May is many months away.”

However, Hippler said he is willing to push it back to September and planned to speak with Taylor privately about her new mitigation expert before making his decision.

Other deadlines and hearing dates may change, but Hippler said the upcoming hearing on the death penalty will not be changed. Kohberger has made a motion to strike the death penalty and a hearing on this matter will take place Nov. 7.

At the beginning of Thursday’s hearing, Hippler laid out his expectations for the prosecution and defense.

He said the stakes “are as high as they can possibly be,” in this case and he expects the attorneys to be professional and avoid personal attacks or theatrics.

He said the nondissemination order prohibiting people involved in this case from talking about it publicly outside of court is still in place.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.