PROVO, Utah — Attorneys for Tyler Robinson, the man charged in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, asked a judge Friday to prevent prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty. The defense argues that prosecutors crossed a line by making public comments about a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body.
The dispute centers on statements prosecutors made to the media after speculation spread that the fragment could help clear Robinson. Questions surrounding the evidence in the Utah Valley University shooting have fueled unsupported conspiracy theories, including claims that a second shooter may have been involved or that Kirk’s death was staged.
Robinson, 23, of southwestern Utah, faces an aggravated murder charge in the Sept. 10 shooting. Kirk was struck in the neck while speaking before a crowd of thousands on the Orem campus. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. He has not yet entered a plea.
In their latest filing, Robinson’s lawyers said prosecutors effectively launched a “media tour” to discuss expert analysis of the bullet fragment, despite the judge’s order limiting public comment outside the courtroom. The defense has repeatedly pushed back against coverage they say has sometimes distorted their client’s position in a case that has drawn heavy public scrutiny.
Prosecutors, however, said they were justified in speaking publicly because they were trying to correct misinformation about an early ballistics finding. Initial testing by experts did not match the bullet fragment to the gun investigators believe was used in Kirk’s killing.
That preliminary result became public through court filings from Robinson’s attorneys, who described the inability to conclusively connect the fragment to the rifle as potentially “exculpatory evidence.” Prosecutors noted that the defense did not emphasize that the finding was only preliminary and that additional testing was still expected.
Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.
“The rules expressly allow lawyers to set the record straight,” Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard wrote in a court filing.
Ballard argued Friday that he didn’t speak to the media about case specifics and only spoke generally about how ballistics testing can be inconclusive. He said his goal “was to respond to the substantial undue prejudicial effect of the media stories.”
Defense attorney Richard Novak disagreed, saying Ballard did not speak to the media using general terms and tried to “influence public perception” of the case.
“What was going on here was an attempt to influence the jury pool,” Novak argued.
State District Judge Tony Graf has said he will issue his decision about the contempt allegation at a later date.
Earlier Friday, Graf declined a defense request to halt the proceedings while they appeal a June 1 order in which the judge declined to bar cameras from the courtroom.
The ruling comes ahead of a key hearing scheduled to begin July 6, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to warrant a trial. That would mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case, which has so far focused on matters of media access.
Before Friday’s hearing, the defense team pointed to another criminal case in which prosecutors were accused of contempt and suggested that one potential remedy would be to bar the state from seeking the death penalty.
While the judge in that earlier case disagreed that an order barring the death penalty was merited, Robinson’s attorneys noted that “the court did not conclude that such a remedy was beyond its authority where the facts support it.”
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
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