The Utah judge overseeing the murder case connected to the killing of Charlie Kirk found prosecutors in contempt of court Friday, citing public statements they made to media outlets regarding the guilt of the accused, Tyler Robinson.
Judge Tony Graf determined that those statements crossed the line established by his own restrictions on what either side in the case is permitted to say publicly. However, Graf turned down a request from the defense to remove the death penalty from consideration as a consequence for the violation. He concluded that the issue could be better addressed through the jury selection process, which is designed to identify and exclude potentially biased jurors.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea in the case. The 23-year-old, who is from southwestern Utah, faces a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the September 10 assassination of Kirk, a political ally of President Donald Trump. Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking before a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University.
Defense attorneys had argued that Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard went on what they described as a “media tour,” discussing ballistics evidence in the case and stating that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to prove Robinson committed the murder.
Judge Graf acknowledged that the comments were not made with any intention of tainting the jury pool, but he still characterized the statements about Robinson’s guilt as “unreasonable” given the court’s existing restrictions on public commentary about the case.
Legal experts had previously noted that eliminating the death penalty as an option would have been a highly unusual and extreme remedy for such a violation.
