Rewritten Article
Death penalty remains an option for Bryan Kohberger's sentencing, despite his diagnosed autism.
In Boise, Idaho, a judge has decided to allow the possibility of the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger if he's found guilty of murdering four University of Idaho students. Despite a recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Kohberger, 30, faces charges for the deadly stabbings of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Prosecutors have stated their intent to pursue the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted during his upcoming trial in August. However, his legal team contended that due to Kohberger's ASD diagnosis, the death penalty should be removed as a possible punishment. They've raised additional motions questioning the death penalty's application, arguing purported violations in the state's evidence provision. Their court paper asserted that though ASD lowers Kohberger's culpability and may negate the purpose of punishment, executing someone with ASD constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
Prosecutors countered that only intellectual disability is a basis for exempting someone from the death penalty, and Kohberger's diagnosis speaks to mild autism without accompanying intellectual impairment.
Kohberger was a graduate student in criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, about 10 miles from Moscow, when the killings occurred in November 2022. He was later apprehended in Pennsylvania, and investigators matched his DNA to genetic material found on a knife sheath at the crime scene. Autopsies revealed that the students were likely asleep when they were attacked, and each victim had multiple defensive wounds.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is sometimes viewed as a mitigating factor during sentencing, reducing the severity of punishment if the defendant is guilty. However, it does not necessarily preclude capital punishment without a national consensus or legal precedent establishing this exclusion. In previous case law, such as the Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), intellectual disabilities, not ASD, have been shown to be a reason for exclusion from the death penalty.
- The legal team for Bryan Kohberger, facing charges for the killings of four Idaho university students, argues that his Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis should remove the possibility of the death penalty, citing it as cruel and unusual punishment.
- Despite the diagnosis of ASD, prosecutors maintain that only intellectual disability provides a basis for exemption from the death penalty, as Kohberger's diagnosis speaks to mild autism without accompanying intellectual impairment.
- In the general news and crime-and-justice sectors, the debate surrounding the application of the death penalty for individuals with ASD, such as Bryan Kohberger, remains a pertinent issue.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may potentially influence sentencing outcomes, as it could reduce the severity of punishment if the defendant is found guilty, but it does not inherently preclude capital punishment in the absence of a national consensus or legal precedent establishing exemption.
