Bryan Kohberger faces a "monumental uphill battle" in his effort to withdraw his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students, according to an attorney who represented D.C.sniper Lee Boyd Malvo and once helped another client successfully withdraw a guilty plea before winning an acquittal.Mark Petrovich, who represented Malvo in post-conviction proceedings in Virginia and has decades of criminal defense experience, told Fox News Digital that defendants rarely succeed in withdrawing guilty pleas after sentencing, even in cases involving claims that they were unaware of potentially exculpatory evidence before entering the plea.He cautioned against drawing direct comparisons between Malvo's post-conviction litigation and Kohberger's effort to withdraw his guilty plea.
Malvo's appeals stemmed from changes in constitutional law governing juvenile sentencing, while Kohberger is attempting to undo a plea agreement he entered as an adult after avoiding the death penalty.KAYLEE GONCALVES' MOTHER SAYS FAMILY READY FOR TRIAL AFTER BRYAN KOHBERGER SEEKS TO WITHDRAW GUILTY PLEA"It's a monumental uphill battle," Petrovich said."First of all, getting the judge to allow you to withdraw the plea, and then second of all to winning any new proceeding, because there's a lot against you."Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago.(Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022.
He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole after accepting a plea agreement that spared him from the death penalty.FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON XIn recent c...