A Utah judge is scheduled to make a key decision on October 27 about how the man accused of shooting and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk will appear in court.
Kirk, 31, an influential ally of President Donald Trump and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was gunned down on September 10 while speaking to students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder and other felonies in September after turning himself in to authorities. Prosecutors are currently seeking the death penalty.
Robinson’s lawyer asked the court to allow him to appear in plain clothes without restrictions to “maintain his presumption of innocence” and protect his right to a fair trial. Defense attorneys pointed to precedent for granting such a request, citing a similar preliminary motion granted in the trial of Brian Koberger, who was sentenced in July to life in prison for killing four University of Idaho students in 2022.
Christopher Ballard, a spokesman for the Utah County Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors objected to the request in a court filing, which has not been made public because it contains information about security measures in the high-profile case. A closed public hearing on this issue was held on October 24th.
Robinson’s attorneys disputed the Utah County Sheriff’s Office’s argument, made in a joint filing with prosecutors, that concerns about the negative publicity that Robinson’s appearance in prison uniform would create could be addressed by having the defendant appear remotely for non-essential hearings. Lawyers argued that doing so would violate Robinson’s rights and make it difficult for her to communicate with her legal team.
But the defense said the court agreed with the sheriff’s office’s argument that the court should limit media coverage of the proceedings, especially photos and videos. Thousands of pretrial advertisements have already been made, and the attorneys wrote that they “tainted the judicial waters of this case by relentlessly focusing on Mr. Robinson’s demeanor and demeanor during his jail appearances.”
Judge Tony Graf, who had previously promised that “the proceedings will be open to the public,” is scheduled to rule on whether Mr. Robinson can appear in court in plain clothes at 1pm local time on October 27. A public hearing scheduled for October 30th has been canceled.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributor: Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY
