Utah judge in Charlie Kirk killing case weighs media access
SALT LAKE CITY– The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus is due back in court Friday as a state judge considers whether certain documents and proceedings should be open to the public.
The outcome will pave the way for a hearing in April in which Tyler Robinson’s lawyers will argue for excluding television cameras, microphones and photographers from the courtroom.
Judge Tony Graf weighed the public’s right to know the details of the case against defense attorneys’ concerns that media attention could harm Robinson’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors, Kirk’s widow and lawyers for the news organizations urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.
Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson, 22, charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
Lawyers are expected to debate Friday whether the defense’s written request to exclude the cameras, which was classified by the court as private, should be made public.
The judge will also determine whether the April 17 hearing in this case will be open or partially closed. Robinson’s lawyers argue in court papers that parts of the hearing should be private to avoid republishing misleading information they say came from the media and government officials.
Media access has been the focus of several recent hearings, with the judge imposing temporary restrictions on local TV stations for showing Robinson’s channels in violation of a court order and for filming close-ups that could allow viewers to interpret what he was discussing with his lawyers.
The judge also blocked full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting from being played in court after defense attorneys argued the graphic footage would harm a fair trial. About 3,000 people attended the outdoor rally to hear from Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA who helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence linked Robinson to the murder.
At the last hearing, in February, the judge refused to disqualify the local county prosecutor’s office from prosecuting the case after the defense argued there was a conflict of interest because a prosecutor’s daughter was present when Kirk was shot.
