Jan 16 (Reuters) – A Utah judge on Friday heard arguments from a lawyer for the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to dismiss the entire prosecution team over an alleged conflict of interest.
District Court Judge Tony Graf considered the motion to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting the case on grounds the 18-year-old daughter of one of its senior lawyers witnessed Kirk’s September 10 killing.
Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged killer, appeared relaxed and at times smiled during the hearing where Graf barred a court videographer from filming close-ups of him talking to his attorney over concerns about lip reading.
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, is credited with mobilizing young conservative voters who helped President Donald Trump win the 2024 election.
Defense lawyers argued that a decision by the Utah County Attorney’s Office to seek the death penalty for Robinson less than a week after Kirk’s death showed a “strong emotional reaction” from the senior lawyer and prosecution team he supervises.
Robinson’s attorney Richard Novak said the office should be barred from the case as no effort was made to shield prosecutors from the senior lawyer’s conflict of interest.
“There was no effort to screen off that prosecutor, and that has now created a problem for the whole office,” Novak told the court, citing text messages the lawyer’s daughter sent him saying Kirk had been shot that were subsequently shared with members of the prosecution team.
Robinson, 22, is accused of firing a single round from a rooftop that hit Kirk as he debated students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah during a tour of U.S. colleges. Kirk’s death underscored rising political violence in the United States during a hyper-polarized era.
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified that the senior lawyer’s daughter, a student at Utah Valley University, was just one of thousands of people present when Kirk was shot.
“What she could testify to is uncontested,” said Gray, adding that he saw no conflict of interest in her father’s role in the prosecution.
In court documents, Gray said his decision to seek the death penalty was motivated by the nature of the murder, which put other people’s lives in danger.
Much of Friday’s hearing dealt with a defense request that the Utah Attorney General’s office respond to its disqualification motion, rather than the Utah County Attorney’s Office.
The next hearing in the case is on February 3.
Robinson is charged with seven criminal counts, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice for disposing of evidence, and witness tampering for asking his roommate to delete incriminating texts.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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