Chief Public Defender Anne Taylor, 57
The attorney representing mass-murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is the Kootenai County public defender – who previously overturned a murder conviction after catching out ‘false statements’ from Idaho police.
Anne Taylor, 57, has already sent a team of investigators to the house on Kings Road in Idaho to start a crime scene reconstruction ahead of Kohberger’s return to the state.
He left Monroe County Correctional Facility at 6am this morning, and was transferred into the custody of Pennsylvania State Police who are handling his transport back to Idaho.
Taylor and a team of four others visited the home where the bloody slayings took place on Tuesday, the same day as Kohberger waived his extradition in court.
Taylor, 57, has already sent a team of investigators to the house on Kings Road in Idaho to start a crime scene reconstruction ahead of Kohberger’s return to the state
Taylor worked on the case of Jonathan Ellington, who was accused of using his car to run over a woman in a road-rage incident. She is now representing Kohberger
She has worked for the Kootenai County Public Defenders office since 2004, and was given the top job in 2017 after John Adams retired.
Taylor worked on the case of Jonathan Ellington, who was accused of using his car to run over a woman in a road-rage incident.
Ellington, who was 45 at the time, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years for the crime – before having it overturned because of an Idaho police officer’s ‘false testimony’.
At the time, Taylor said that Rise was ‘pivotal in the verdict’ of Ellington, adding that he had a ‘presence in the courtroom.’
Fred Rice was accused of lying to the court in relation to the incident, with Taylor representing Ellington throughout.
He was later re-convicted of the charges during a second trial, after the Supreme Court ruled that Rice lied on the stand.
Ellington, who was 45 at the time, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years for the crime – before having it overturned because of an Idaho police officer’s ‘false testimony’
Hours after his extradition hearing investigators hired by Kohberger’s defense team arrived at the property on King Road to take pictures and footage. Pictured is Ann Taylor (centre)
Taylor serves on the board of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is death penalty certified in Idaho
The Idaho native graduated from the University – where all four victims were studying – with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration.
She went on to get a doctorate from the same establishment, before practicing law at federal, state and local levels.
Taylor serves on the board of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is death penalty certified in Idaho.
Speaking when she took the job as Chief Public Defender, she said: ‘It’s such necessary work.
‘It’s important to make sure Constitutional rights apply to everybody. You help people who are facing horrible times. I love the work.’
Chief of Moscow Police James Fry confirmed at a press conference on Friday that the clean-up plan was called off because of a court order linked to the arrest of Bryan Kohberger
Kohberger signed his own extradition waiver in court in Pennsylvania on Tuesday
On Friday, the criminal justice graduate student was arrested in connection with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20
Taylor has not been available for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com, with an Idaho judge issuing a gagging order for legal teams and law enforcement working on the case.
Her team spent around 45 minutes taking video footage inside and outside the property.
Four of the investigators then left the property, but a crime scene reconstruction analyst remained.
It is unusual for defense attorneys paid by the state to create a reconstruction of the crime scene.
Meanwhile, Kohberger’s parents have insisted they don’t have the money for a private attorney.
The investigation of the house comes after the court ordered a clean-up mission to be halted, when it was announced that authorities had made an arrest in the chilling case.
Photos show that an Idaho State Police trooper accompanied the group when they attended the property.
He was arrested after being tracked by the FBI for four days near his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, with authorities narrowing down the suspect from genetic genealogy
The suspect’s father, Michael Kohberger, is shown arriving at the courthouse in a summer hat to obscure his face
Kohberger’s therapist sister, Melissa, attended the extradition hearing on Tuesday with her parents
Ex-homicide detective and attorney Ted Williams said: ‘The fact that Bryan Kohberger’s attorney has brought in private investigators to go throughout this crime scene leads me to believe that he is definitely going to mount a strong defense.’
Kohberger. a criminal justice graduate student, 28, was arrested Friday in connection with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13.
He was being represented by a public defender during his extradition hearing in Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon, and was seen in public for the first time wearing a red prison-issued jumpsuit.
