Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court in September 2023. Second District […]Read More
A marijuana harvester examines a bud that is going through a trimming machine near Corvallis, Ore. Idahoans frequently cross into Washington and Oregon to buy cannabis. (Credit: AP Photo / […]Read More
Leotis McCormack answers the phone at his office at the Nez Perce Tribal Police Department in Lapwai, Idaho. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 4:02) Read More than 17 […]Read More
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students […]Read More
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow. (August Frank/The Lewiston Tribune via AP) Listen (Runtime :55) Read At […]Read More
Gifts in honor of victims Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin continue to appear in front of the King Road House. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB) Listen […]Read More
Bryan Kohberger chose not to enter a plea Monday, May 22 at his arraignment hearing. The judge entered not guilty on all charges on his behalf. (Credit: KREM 2 News) […]Read More
Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, on Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, […]Read More
Washington’s “Bring them home” law takes effect in June. It allows tribal members to pray over a deceased indigenous person without compromising the scene before an autopsy is conducted, and supports survivors of trafficking.Read More
The Supreme Court's three liberal justices strongly dissented Monday when the court's six-member conservative majority refused to hear an appeal brought by a brain-damaged death row inmate who wants to be executed by firing squad.Read More
A Supreme Court justice is gravely ill, ideological control of the court hangs in the balance — throw in a ruthless president and an international conspiracy, and what you have is the plot of Stacey Abrams's new novel, While Justice Sleeps. Yes, that Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician, and she's written a thriller ripped straight from the headlines — inspired by a Read More
Testimony ended Thursday in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The defendant said he will not testify in his defense in the trial and would invoke his Fifth Amendment right.Read More
An Idaho House panel on Tuesday approved legislation intended to give lawmakers veto power over federal government actions and federal court decisions. The House State Affairs Committee on a voice vote sent the bill to the full House for possible amendments after the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Sage Dixon, said it needed several changes.Read More
Lawmakers in Olympia are scrambling to respond to a Washington Supreme Court decision that declared the state’s law criminalizing drug possession unconstitutional because it did not require prosecutors to prove intent.Read More
The prosecution and defense made opening arguments in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Monday morning. The trial is starting in earnest 10 months after George Floyd's killing triggered outrage and protests against racial inequality across the United States.Read More
The jury chosen for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, is notable because it is significantly less white than Minneapolis itself.Read More
For advocates of drug policy reform and those in the world of criminal defense, the ruling “was a much-needed nail in the coffin on the war on drugs,” said Ali Hohman, director of legal services at the Washington Defender Association. Meanwhile, many prosecutors, law enforcement officials and lawmakers are nervous about its implications.Read More
Jury selection in the highly anticipated trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin began in district court on Tuesday, even as the judge in the case awaits higher courts' rulings that could halt the proceedings. Chauvin faces charges in the killing of George Floyd last Memorial Day.Read More
In a decision with implications for tens of thousands of cases dating back decades, the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s felony drug possession law because — unlike the laws of every other state — it did not require prosecutors to prove someone knowingly or intentionally possessed drugs.Read More
Dominion Voting Systems has filed suit against former President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani over baseless claims he's made that Dominion was at the center of a scheme to perpetuate widespread election fraud.Read More
The Democratic proposal, shared first with NPR, comes as the party will have unified control of Congress after victories in two Georgia Senate races, a change in fortunes for Democratic legislative priorities. The legislation would end capital punishment at the federal level and require the resentencing of all federal inmates on death row.Read More
In April the justices said future split verdicts in criminal trials are unconstitutional. Now the question is what about such verdicts in the past — potentially several thousand of them.Read More
The prosecution had sought a 48-hour seal on court filings, which include a submission from the defense of footage of the 2019 encounter, in hopes of discussing what information to release.Read More
The former police officer charged with murder in the killing of George Floyd can leave Minnesota while he awaits trial. Floyd's family lawyer called it "an example of two justice systems in America."Read More
The state's Supreme Court said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lacked the authority to extend a state of emergency past April 30. Whitmer had cited two state laws in extending her emergency declarations. Read More
"The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body," Attorney General Daniel Cameron says in a statement. "It's apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen."Read More
A lawsuit filed in 2017 claims that Loren Culp and two other law enforcement officers didn’t properly investigate the claims of a 17-year-old girl, who said she’d been molested by a relative since she was five.Read More
Ultimately, presiding judge Kristin Ferrera sided with the state and did not issue an injunction on the emergency order. She said she didn’t have enough evidence on its current harms to the plaintiffs, representing business owners and individuals in Chelan and Douglas counties.Read More
The pair of cases is the second time in less than a decade that the court has been asked to consider arguments involving discrimination lawsuits from teachers fired by parochial schools.Read More
The justices, in a 5-4 decision, said that the prisoners who had sued failed to show that the Department of Corrections was not properly addressing the risk of COVID-19.Read More
Helen Whitener, who is originally from Trinidad, is believed to be only the second Black justice -- and the first Black woman -- to ever serve on the state’s high court, according to a spokesperson for the Supreme Court. Read More
In the latest salvo against media outlets, the campaign is targeting opinion pieces that invoke concerns that Donald Trump invited aid from Russia to boost his electoral fortunes. Read More
Stephens, 54, will replace current Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, who announced last month she will retire from the high court in January to focus on her health as she fights a third bout of cancer.Read More
The Washington Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the state’s “three strikes” sentencing law, even for people who commit their first strike as young adults. But Justice Mary Yu also described “growing discomfort” with the “routine practice” of issuing mandatory life sentences.Read More
A superior court judge in southeastern Washington who was arrested in April on multiple charges involving sexual misconduct could face more charges. Nine women have reported some degree of sexual misconduct by Asotin County Superior Court Judge Scott Gallina from the time he took the bench in 2014.Read More
Washington's Sentencing Guidelines Commission, tasked with promoting accountability and equity in sentencing, has adopted a report to the state Legislature that urges lawmakers to consider two options for modernizing the grid with the twin goals of simplifying sentencing and increasing judicial discretion.Read More
