'Conflict of Interest' in Bryan Kohberger Case Leaves Legal Experts Stunned

Taylor "may have withdrawn from the active case involving victim's parent when she was assigned the Kohberger case, but she can't unlearn the information she acquired in the course of those earlier representations," he said. "We have no idea to what extent that information might include the murder victim.

"Further, a murder victim's relatives have a right to be heard in almost every jurisdiction in the U.S. in a charged homicide case. If the state files a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, the parent (the public defender's former client) will have a specific right and special standing to be heard in the capital case including any proposed resolution or plea."

Neama Rahmani, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, said there is "a potential conflict of interest because Taylor presumably has to cross-examine the parent during the guilt or death penalty phase of the trial, if necessary."

Chris Darden, a prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, has said that Taylor "should not be representing" Kohberger.

"It's the new one where there's a conflict and it's the new one that she should have conflicted off," he said on NewsNation's CUOMO.

"She should not be representing him. She should continue to represent the mother that she has represented or her office is represented on three and four occasions prior, it makes no sense to conflict on those and keep this case."

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