Simply as a matter of statistics, the plea deal with accused killer Bryan Kohberger, as opposed to a murder trial, is what you would expect.
And contrary to what happens in many cases, something along the lines of justice probably is being served.
To the first point, you should realize that the many TV programs centering on a dramatic trial do not much reflect today’s criminal justice reality. I’ve spoken to a number of veteran attorneys and judges in recent years who agree there are (and they have been participating in) far fewer trials than used to be the case. And they seem, generally, a little uneasy about it.
But this is a national trend. In 2017 an article in the law journal Judicature concluded. “trials, particularly jury trials, once played a central role in the American legal system. No longer. While trial remains a theoretical possibility in every case, the reality is quite different. Trials occur rarely, typically only in the most intractable disputes. The pronounced disappearance of trials seems to have largely escaped the attention of Hollywood, the literary community, and the mainstream media, but this development is well known to judges, other court personnel, litigators, and academics. However, even those “in the know” often do not appreciate just how rare trials have become.”
The high cost of a trial, and the often time-consuming nature of it along with appeals which can stretch out for many years, make them ever-less likely to happen unless a case is both a very close call and highly intractable.
Generally speaking, this is not a positive development. Important elements of public justice are washing away with the disappearance of trials. Decisions about guilt and innocence, or outcomes in major civil disputes, are much less often in the hands of ordinary citizens and more directly in those of a few public officials. The adage that justice delayed is justice denied often seems forgotten in our justice system. The trend line should make you uncomfortable.
In the Kohberger case, where a plea agreement between the accused and the prosecution was announced on July1, Kohberger has pleaded guilty to four counts of first degree murder, in the deaths of four University of Idaho students at Moscow, in November 2022. Note the time line: About two years have passed already since Kohberger’s initial arrest, with trial repeatedly delayed and not expected (before the plea deal) until later this year at the soonest. Concluding the case with a trial and appeals would be a very, very long process.
The death penalty will not be sought - that was the concession to the defendant - but otherwise Kohberger will receive an outcome not much different from what probably would have happened if he had been found guilty at trial - which seems likely but never is guaranteed. He gave up any shot at an appeal, and agreed to life in prison, period.
Families of the victims said they were outraged at the plea deal; some may have very much wanted the facts fully laid out at a trial, and some may have wanted the death penalty imposed.
Still. High stakes trials often are an emotionally shattering experience (imagine the reaction if, unlikely but possible, Kohberger had walked), and don’t often bring the closure survivors hope for. Other people in Idaho may not have been looking forward to all the grim details the state would be forever associated with.
And the death penalty, however you assess the ethics of imposing it, is increasingly a frustrating way of exacting justice. Look at the case of Thomas Creech, convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death in 1976, who has spent decades on death row and remains among the living. How much did the death sentence matter there?
The Kohberger case is now essentially over, and the survivors and the state can start to move on. In this case, that’s probably a good thing.