PROVO, Utah — Judge Tony Graf Jr. told the parties he would take their arguments under advisement and said he could have decisions ready by June 22.
Accused Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson's defense argued three motions Friday before Graf in a Provo courthouse. The first, an attempt to delay Robinson's July preliminary hearing, was denied.
They also sought to have the potential death penalty taken off the table, claiming that was the only remedy left after prosecutors spoke about the case outside of the courtroom.
Prosecutors have maintained that they did nothing improper and gave media interviews in order to "set the record straight " after a defense filing suggested the bullet couldn't be matched to the suspected murder weapon. It couldn't be excluded, either, according to prosecutors.
In their third motion, they asked Graf to prohibit hearsay testimony from the preliminary hearing.
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Defense attorney Michael Burt argued that it's unfair for the prosecution to rely on hearsay with Robinson's life "at stake."
Defendants have a right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, he noted.
If investigators are permitted to testify about "reliable hearsay," such as a confession, Robinson's lawyers wouldn't have an opportunity to cross-examine the people who allegedly heard such a confession.
However, with a lower burden of proof at the preliminary hearing, Utah County Deputy Attorney Christopher Ballard countered that the burden of proof is low at preliminary hearings — probable cause — and as a result the Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses doesn't apply.
"Even if the state's only witness to a robbery was a convicted forger who wasn't wearing his glasses when he saw the robbery and who had a grudge against the defendant, even if the defense could bring all of that out on cross-examination, it's irrelevant to the probable cause finding because it's such a low burden," he said.
Fox News' Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson's defense is asking the judge to preclude the possible death penalty over the prosecution's media interviews regarding the ballistics testing results, accusing the state of "trying to influence the public perception of this case."
The defense has been pushing for "sanctions" against the prosecution. During the hearing Friday, after questioning Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray and his office's general counsel, Christopher Ballard, defense attorney Richard Novak argued that removing the potential for capital punishment would be an appropriate measure.
"It's in the interest of justice," Novak said, arguing the proposal was "proportionate" based on the alleged misconduct of the prosecution.
Deputy County Attorney Ryan McBride disagreed at the start of his rebuttal before the court.
Prosecutors have maintained that all of their extrajudicial statements on the matter have been proper.
They've argued that despite a gag order and court rules governing what can be said outside the courtroom, they were still allowed to "set the record straight" in response to a misleading claim in a defense filing that suggested the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk was not a match to the suspected murder weapon.
The caliber was consistent, according to an ATF ballistics report. But the bullet itself was so damaged it could not be matched to or excluded from the suspected murder weapon.
Robinson's defense lawyers, in a court filing, asserted that "the ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson."
The claim, which prosecutor Christopher Ballard described as misleading and "misstated," generated millions of views from just one report — and inspired additional coverage in local and national media, according to court filings.
But the defense left out a crucial piece of context, according to Ballard."The ATF was unable to identify or exclude the bullet as having been fired from the rifle," he countered.
"Defendant reinforced this misleading inference by following it up with, 'the defense may very well decide to offer the testimony of the ATF firearm analyst as exculpatory evidence,'" he added.
PROVO, Utah — The top prosecutor in the case against Tyler Robinson was called to the witness stand at Friday's hearing to testify as the defense attempts to show his office improperly spoke about the case outside of the courtroom.
Gray has denied claims that prosecutors violated court rules or a gag order when they spoke about a viral report based on a defense filing that suggested the ATF had ruled out a connection between the suspected murder weapon and the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk.
His office has countered that there was nothing improper about attempts to "set the record straight."
An appendix to an ATF ballistics report explained that an "inconclusive" finding regarding a fragmented bullet meant that the examiner believed "there is an insufficient quality and/or quantity of individual characteristics to identify or exclude."
The defense highlighted that the bullet could not be matched but left out that it could not be excluded by the examiner, leading to widespread coverage that prosecutors say amplified the misleading statement.
Defense attorney Richard Novak later accused Gray's team of a "cover-up" regarding the motivation behind the out of court statements.
Fox News Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}Fox News Digital video shows Robinson’s parents arrive to the Fourth District Court building in Provo, Utah.
Robinson’s parents are attending the evidentiary pre-trial hearing Friday nine months after their son was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Utah County general counsel and public information officer Christopher Ballard rebuked a line of inquiry from Tyler Robinson's defense team about his conversations with a reporter from TMZ, claiming that Utah County was not responsible for generating "potentially prejudicial media stories," against his client.
When cross-examined by Robinson defense attorney Richard Novak on his conversation discussing bullet fragments with TMZ, Ballard testified that a court rule prohibiting the state from making extrajudicial statements about the case did not apply to county employees while they were refuting prejudicial media stories not generated by the county.
"Under the court's order which specifically references subsection C of the rule... this was potentially prejudicial media stories that we did not generate and that the rule allowed us to be able to respond to those.
Ballard defended the necessity to respond to false reports that the county did not have a case against Robinson.
"The reporter then asked me 'well do you still have a case?' And focused specifically... on the additional media reports out there that the supposed inability to match the bullet to the gun meant that there was a bombshell finding for our case and that it completely undermined the foundation of our case," Ballard testified.
Ballard also testified that responding to media inquiries with "no comment" would contribute to further misinformation and prejudicial media reports
"Especially given the kinds of stories that were circulating there, like that our case as a fundamental problem, that this is a bombshell. For us to say no comment or to not give a response... my concern was that that would feed this idea that the state does not have sufficient evidence to proceed," Ballard said.
Ballard claimed that his office received a large number of media inquiries and that he agreed to speak with TMZ for a conversation, though it lasted under 10 minutes.
When questioned by Novak on whether or not he ran the decision to speak with TMZ by Jeffrey Gray, the County Attorney who oversees Utah County Attorneys, Ballard affirmed that he discussed media inquiries but not specifically the TMZ call.
Novak then questioned Ballard on an appearance he made on "Fox & Friends," playing a clip of the appearance for the court. While the video played, Novak turned and looked at Robinson.
Ballard testified that he received about seven or eight media queries and responded to most of them.
Fox News' Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
PROVO, Utah — Utah County general counsel and public information officer Christopher Ballard was called to the witness stand to be questioned by Tyler Robinson's attorney Richard Novak as part of an order to show cause connected to the defense teams motion to have prosecutors sanctioned for speaking about the case outside of court.
Prosecutors have previously defended their right to "set the record straight" after a defense court filing went viral for what they called misleading claims about ATF ballistics testing on the suspected murder weapon.
Novak's early questions to Ballard focused on email exchanges about ballistics testing between the prosecution and defense team, as well as whether filings on the matter should be withheld from the public.
Ballard testified that lawyers are allowed to state information contained in the public record in a court case.
Fox News' Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}PROVO, Utah — Judge Tony Graf Jr. has denied Tyler Robinson's request for a stay in the case until his defense appeals the judge's prior decision to deny their motion to ban cameras from the courtroom.
He said pretrial publicity does not inevitably lead to an unfair trial, consistent with US Supreme Court precedent.
TYLER ROBINSON PROSECUTORS SAY DEFENSE FUELD VIRAL MISINFORMATION IN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION CASE
However, he said Robinson's lawyers have failed to establish a concrete threat of harm or a "realistic likelihood of prejudice."
Graf acknowledged that electronic coverage and pre-trial publicity warrant review, but he said that doesn't require further postponement of Robinson's preliminary hearing.
Fox News' Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson arrived in court a couple of minutes ahead of his 9 a.m. hearing, sitting between defense attorneys Michael Burt and Richard Novak.
Robinson arrived wearing slacks and a blue button-down shirt. His parents were present in the front row.
Judge Tony Graf Jr. briefly entered but then left before the hearing started, prompting a short delay.
JUDGE ALLOWS CAMERAS IN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION CASE, DELAYS PRELIMINARY HEARING
He returned about a minute later and kicked off the hearing.
Graf began by telling the courtroom that anyone who leaves during the proceeding will be unable to re-enter until the next recess.
Fox News' Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.
PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson , the 22-year-old accused assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, has arrived at the Provo courthouse for a hearing on his defense attempts to limit what prosecutors can show in the courtroom at his preliminary hearing next month — and to sanction them for things they've said outside of it.
A procession of police vehicles, including an armored truck that is often seen escorting Robinson to and from court, arrived around around 8 a.m. MT Friday, ahead of his scheduled 9 a.m. hearing.
{{#rendered}}PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, returns to court Friday as his defense hopes to hobble prosecutors at his upcoming preliminary hearing.
The hearing is a routine step where the state must show it has probable cause to bring the case against Robinson, who has not yet entered a plea.
The defense is asking the judge to block "hearsay" evidence from the hearing.
UTAH PROSECUTORS ASK JUDGE TO SHUT DOWN DELAY TACTICS IN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION CASE
Part of the defense's argument in a 51-page filing is that Utah law allows hearsay to be introduced by investigators on the witness stand at the preliminary hearing, denying the defense the chance to cross-examine the actual witnesses.
Prosecutors have said since the beginning that Robinson allegedly admitted to killing Charlie Kirk in conversations with multiple people, including his parents and his lover.
Robinson's legal team is also asking to have prosecutors sanctioned for speaking about the case outside the courtroom. Prosecutors have countered that they did nothing improper when they sought to add context to what they call a misleading defense filing that led to viral coverage online.
Utah prosecutors are asking the judge overseeing the case against Charlie Kirk's accused assassin to reject a defense effort to further postpone a preliminary hearing nearly nine months after the suspect's arrest.
Lawyers for 22-year-old Tyler Robinson have asked Judge Tony Graf Jr. to push back the routine hearing as they appeal his denial of their motion to ban news cameras from the high-profile case.
"Defendant cannot show that a stay is necessary to prevent additional prejudice from media coverage of his preliminary hearing, when this Court has already found that he failed to show that a public preliminary hearing would prejudice him at all," Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard wrote in a court filing Saturday.
Robinson's attorneys filed an appeal with the Utah Supreme Court and then asked Graf to push back the hearing while they await a response.
"Nor can Defendant show that he is likely to prevail on appeal (assuming one is granted), or that a stay is not adverse to the public interest in the prompt disposition of criminal trials," Ballard added. "Moreover, there is no need for this Court to stay the proceedings pending disposition of the petition for interlocutory appeal. If the Utah Supreme Court concludes that such a stay is warranted, that court can stay the proceedings."
Coverage for this event has ended.