Anne Taylor, the public defense attorney representing Idaho murder house suspect Brian Kohberger, 28, could make over $400k a year for her work on the quadruple homicide case.
Reports from outlets such as the Daily Mail detail the hefty $200 an-hour rate Taylor, who is the chief public defender for Kootenai County, will be paid for her 40-hour work week while representing Kohberger. In short, this means Taylor’s compensation will likely be funded with state taxpayer dollars.
Taylor will be leading the defense proceedings for Kohberger, the Washington State University at Pullman criminal justice major accused of murdering Maddie Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, last year in November.
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Another key takeaway from Taylor’s agreement states that Latah County agreed to give the funds to Kootenai for her work and that a secondary attorney assisting her will be compensated at a rate of $180 an hour. Based on the American Bar Association’s estimated $141 figure for the average hourly rate for capital punishment attorneys in 2023, Taylor and her supporting attorney are making well above average.
Meantime, here is the compensation section for Anne Taylor and her co-counsel in black and white. #Moscow pic.twitter.com/twYXjr49rX
— Amanda Roley (@KREMAmandaRoley) February 16, 2023
In total, Taylor’s yearly salary for the case could amount to nearly $416k — which is nearly triple what she made in 2021 after earning $118,866. Her team could also make around $15k per week, or $3k a day, while evidence in the case is presented throughout an estimated five day peroid in June.
Kohberger is expected to enter his plea in the case on June 26, from which point prosecutors have 30 days to pursue the death penalty based on the terms of Idaho’s voluntary capital crimes defense fund.
Considering there are only a little over 100 miles between the two municipalities, Taylor is one of only 13 public defenders in Idaho approved by the state’s public defense commission to lead a capital punishment case.
However, concerns over multiple conflicts of interest continue to arise as Taylor recently stepped down as the lawyer of Cara Northington, mother of deceased victim Kernodle, and began representing Kohberger.
She also previously represented Mogen’s stepmother, Korie Hatrock, in June 2022 and also handled a case involving her father, Benjamin in 2020.
Matthew Barhoma, a California Appellate and litigation lawyer with knowledge of the case described the situation as, “Odd and unique.”
“You have to assume she received no confidential information from the mother that could bleed into this case. And then you have to question if you can do the job impartially, and it could affect Bryan who may not have a replaced attorney,” Barhoma stated. He continued, “It is an inherently difficult issue with no clear-cut answer and is a gray area. However if it were me, I would recuse myself from the case.”
A petition is currently circulating calling for Taylor to be removed from the case.
Petition launched to have public defender #AnneTaylor removed from #BryanKohberger ‘s #IdahoMurders case for conflict of interest. Taylor represented 3 parents of her new client’s alleged victims. In 5 hours they’ve almost reached their goal. https://t.co/QAROwvbDCT
— Ashleigh Banfield (@TVAshleigh) February 10, 2023
In addition to the four counts of Murder, Kohberger is also charged with one count of felony burglary. He is accused of stalking the property where the murder occurred, which is around eight miles from Pullman, WA in Moscow, ID, at least 12 times before the killings occurred.