Former Prosecutor Says Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect’s Lawyers Using Notorious Killer’s Delay Tactics

Tyler Robinson has gone more than nine months without entering a plea in the Charlie Kirk assassination case, and one former federal prosecutor says the approach mirrors a strategy used by one of the most infamous murder defendants in recent years.

Robinson, 23, is facing multiple charges after prosecutors say he shot and killed conservative figure Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. He has not yet been arraigned because, under Utah procedure, that step cannot occur until after a preliminary hearing. That hearing is currently set for July 6-10.

His defense attorneys have filed a series of motions in court, repeatedly slowing the case as they challenge aspects of the prosecution’s handling of the matter.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told News Agency that Robinson’s legal team appears to be using a tactic similar to the one deployed by attorneys for Bryan Kohberger.

“Tyler Robinson hasn’t entered a plea because the defense is filing a lot of pretrial motions to put the prosecution on its heels. Things like trying to disqualify the entire Utah County Attorney’s Office, trying to get some of the evidence suppressed, trying to get a contempt order because the prosecutors violated the court’s gag order. These are things the defense’s doing to try to get the death penalty off the table,” Rahmani said. “They’re really taking a playbook from… how the lawyers in Idaho in the Bryan Kohberger case handled that litigation.”

Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the Nov. 13, 2022, murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

During court proceedings for that case, Rahmani pointed out, Kohberger’s defense team, led by Anne Taylor, had the strategy of “litigating everything” such as “venue, gag orders, disqualification, suppression, you name it.“

“What they want to do is file these legal motions because they know they have a better chance of arguing the law than the actual facts of this case and if they prevail on one or more of these motions or if the prosecution thinks that even if they win they may lose on appeal, because in death penalty cases, there are mandatory state and federal appeals,” he said of both cases.

Rahmani said that the strategy of filing motion after motion is also being done in hopes that prosecutors will eventually offer a plea deal.

“They’re hoping that by filing motion after motion that the prosecution will offer a life without the possibility of parole deal. That of course would be something acceptable to the defense because saving Tyler Robinson’s life would be a huge win,” he added.

Judge Tony Graf Jr. dealt a blow to Robinson’s defense on Monday, but pushed a more consequential decision to a new hearing that will be held on Friday.

Robinson’s attorneys have accused prosecutors of violating a gag order in the case by discussing it outside the courtroom, and they have asked Graf to take the potential death penalty off the table as a result. Graf is expected to rule on that on Friday.

On Monday, Graf also denied a bid from Robinson’s defense team to compel his former roommate and lover Lance Twiggs to testify during July’s preliminary hearings.

Prosecutors may use prerecorded testimony from Twiggs, however, in addition to other hearsay evidence during the preliminary hearing. Graf said that while the hearing is a “critical stage of the criminal process,” it’s not a trial.

Robinson’s attorneys were attempting to block hearsay evidence, which includes prerecorded testimony from Twiggs, the medical examiner’s report, federal DNA and ballistics report and more.

One of Robinson’s attorneys, Kathryn Nester, also represented Kouri Richins, who was convicted of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022. Richins would go on to write a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death.

She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in May after the trial took place in February and March.

In total, Richins’ trial took place more than four years after her husband’s death.