Charlie Kirk's accused assassin Tyler Robinson asked Judge Tony Graf Jr. at a May 19 hearing to block the public from portions of his upcoming preliminary hearing and keep evidence exhibits under seal.
His lawyers also asked the judge to sanction prosecutors for speaking with the media outside the courtroom.
WHAT TYLER ROBINSON'S DEFENSE WANTS HIDDEN AND WHY PROSECUTORS AND MEDIA SAY NO IN COURT
However, the Utah County Attorney's Office countered that nothing they said was improper and accused Robinson's defense of making misleading claims in court filings that required them to "set the record straight" in a series of media interviews.
Graf took the arguments under advisement and said he would announce his ruling at a virtual hearing today.
Robinson is expected to appear in an audio only call from jail.
Lawyers for Tyler Robinson asked the Utah Supreme Court for permission to file an interlocutory appeal of Judge Tony Graf's denial of their motion to kick news cameras out of the courtroom.
Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Robinson and faces the potential death penalty.
His defense argued that extensive media coverage violates his constitutional right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.Graf rejected that argument.
Robinson's lawyers, however, are asking a higher court to overrule him after their expert witnesses claimed that 99% of Utah County residents recognize the case and 64% believe Robinson is guilty based on media coverage — influenced on what they allege are "prejudicial" news reports.
According to prosecutors, Robinson admitted to the shooting to multiple people, and they allegedly recovered his DNA from the suspected murder weapon, which was discovered in the woods just off campus at Utah Valley University, where Kirk died.
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