Jurors must excuse Bryan Kohbergers piercing stare and emotionless face because he has autism and OCD, defense says
Bryan Kohberger has autism, OCD and a developmental coordination disorder — and jurors need to know that so they don’t mistake his “piercing stare” and emotionless face as a sign that he’s a cold-blooded killer during his trial for the murders of four University of Idaho students, his lawyers say.Kohberger, 28, raised the defense à la Gen Z in a filing earlier this month — with defense attorney Elisa Massoth saying that the Ph.D.criminology student should be allowed to call expert medical witnesses at his Aug.
11 trial to tell jurors about his mental and physical conditions to help explain his courtroom comportment.Additionally, the coordination disorder is evidence that he can’t possibly have committed the crimes — because he doesn’t have the dexterity that would have been required to butcher Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin in just a few minutes on Nov.13 2022, the filing claimed.Jurors “will watch his every move and pass judgement on him every minute of the jury trial simply based on how he looks and reacts” when evidence is presented and people testify about him, Massoth wrote.It’s essential the panelists know that he has been diagnosed with autism, that he also has obsessive compulsive disorder and that he has “deficits in fine motor dexterity and visual motor function,” the court papers say.Kohberger’s behaviors are “highly consistent” with autism but “without explanation others may misinterpret and misidentify Mr.
Kohberger’s behaviors and cast them in a more sinister light,” the documents argue.Some of his mannerism that could be wrongly misconstrued, include the fact he doesn’t show facial emotion, he has a “flat affect,” sits extremely still and rigidly, holds his hands in one position, “has a piercing stare” and speaks stiffly.He also doesn’t react like one would expect in certain situations and his “facial expressions do not reflect what he is feeling,” the lawyer wro...