Tyler Robinson hearing: Defense vies to restrict evidence, testimony in Charlie Kirk assassination

PROVO, Utah — Judge Tony Graf Jr. said he would take arguments under advisement before issuing a ruling on two defense motions in a virtual hearing scheduled for June 1.

Robinson's defense team is seeking to have portions of a July hearing closed to the public, a move that was opposed by prosecutors and the attorney for a coalition of media outlets that includes Fox News Digital.

The defense is also seeking sanctions against prosecutors for statements made outside the courtroom about evidence in the case — statements that prosecutors insist were made properly to counter allegedly misleading claims from the defense in court filings.

Graf said he would issue the ruling over WebEx, and Robinson will appear remotely via audio only. His next in-person hearing is set for June 12 at 9 a.m. MT.

Robinson chatted briefly with his attorneys before bailiffs led him out of the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs.

He looked over at his family, smiled and nodded. 

Kathy Nester, one of Robinson's defense attorneys, also chatted with his brother after the hearing. 

A large police escort, including an armored SWAT truck, left the courthouse to bring Robinson back to the Utah County jail.

Fox News' Jamie Vera contributed to this report.

PROVO, Utah — After a recess the sides are now arguing over a defense motion seeking to keep part of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing in July behind closed doors.

Robinson returned to the defense table, sat alongside attorney Kathy Nester and briefly laughed during a quiet conversation before the hearing resumed.

Preliminary hearings are routine steps, usually very early in a case, where the prosecution shows there is probable cause to warrant the charges.

They can include evidence and testimony that is later inadmissible at trial, and Robinson's lawyers have argued that revealing such evidence publicly could prejudice the potential jury pool.

Defense attorney Staci Visser said the state has indicated that exhibits presented at the preliminary hearing would be presented in a way so they are not seen by people in the gallery or on the livestream. She said that was the defense’s primary concern.

Some of the evidence, including two videos showing the death of Charlie Kirk, are sensitive, prosecutors agreed.

She also warned that "reliable hearsay" expected to be introduced at the preliminary hearing will be subject to an admissibility battle before trial.

She proposed closing the preliminary hearing and later releasing a transcript that addresses evidence that may not be admissible at trial, but Judge Tony Graf Jr. pushed back.

"Closing the whole hearing wouldn’t be narrowly tailored," he said. "Closing the hearing and then picking it apart afterward is broad."

Fox News' Jamie Vera contributed to this report.

PROVO, Utah — Robinson's defense began with oral arguments on their motion to sanction the Utah County Attorney's Office of remarks made outside the courtroom.

Robinson's team has accused the prosecution of speaking improperly about evidence in the case.

"There is no doubt that they understood that they can't be making extrajudicial...statements about Mr. Robinson's guilt or innocence or about the forensic evidence," defense attorney Richard Novak told the court, prompting nods from Robinson's parents in the gallery.

Deputy County Attorney Christopher Ballard countered in an opposition filing that misleading language in court documents prompted them to "set the record straight," within court rules, especially after the defense's claims about ballistic evidence prompted media coverage and went viral.

Speaking in court for the prosecution Tuesday, Deputy County Attorney Ryan McBride argued that the defense forced prosecutors to respond publicly in order to protect the potential jury pool from contamination.

"I don't think there's a reasonable way to interpret the evidence to say that's exculpatory," he said. "This bullet is consistent with coming from that gun."

The defense had argued in a previous filing that "the ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson."

The language left out that the ATF was also unable to exclude the bullet and that the bullet's caliber was consistent with Robinson's .30-06 Mauser rifle, which police found in the brush near the Utah Valley University campus where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in September.

Then in the same filing, the defense "reinforced this misleading inference" by adding that they might call the ATF firearm analyst to the witness stand "as exculpatory evidence."

Novak, however, denied making misleading claims.

"We did not say in our pleading that the ATF report concluded that there was not a match," he said. "That is not what it says. And of course, our pleadings speak for themselves."

Judge Tony Graf Jr. previously unsealed the ATF report to let the public read it for themselves.

PROVO, Utah — Lead defense attorney Kathy Nester and her client Tyler Robinson entered the courtroom just before the scheduled start time of 9 a.m. MT.

He smiled to his parents and took a seat at the defense table.

Judge Tony Graf Jr. took the bench a minute later and court is now in session.

PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson's parents and brother arrived at the courthouse about 15 minutes before his hearing was scheduled to start.

Dressed in dark colors, they hurried in a side door without speaking to reporters in the hallway.

Robinson arrived earlier, in an armored police vehicle and escorted by marked and unmarked SUVS before his ride pulled into a sallyport below the courthouse.

Prosecutors and some of Robinson's defense counsel have also arrived, although lead attorney Kathy Nester and one of the team's high-powered California lawyers, Michael Burt, were not immediately visible.

PROVO, Utah — Charlie Kirk's accused assassin Tyler Robinson returns to a Provo courthouse today in a bid to hide evidence and testimony from the public and also have prosecutors sanctioned for speaking about the case outside of the courtroom.

Prosecutors have countered in court filings that they spoke out to correct misinformation that went viral after Robinson's defense argued that "the ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson."

"The ATF was unable to identify or exclude the bullet as having been fired from the rifle," countered Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard.

It was not clear in court filings which witness testimony or evidence exhibits the defense wants to be kept hidden, but some of the exhibits prosecutors plan to present include records from the communications app Discord, text messages, written or recorded statements, videos of the shooting and a note.

The hearing kicks off at 9 a.m. MT.