Utah Fourth District Judge Tony Graf suggested that the defense for Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, wasted time during a hearing on Friday.
Defense attorney Richard Novak requested that the prosecution with the Utah County Attorney’s Office be disqualified from the case given that one of the prosecutor’s children was at the campus event where Kirk got shot. Graf told Novak that the defense could have filed the motion earlier to be more efficient with everyone’s time.
“My question for you is knowing this, why didn’t you file a motion prior to today’s hearing knowing that this court would be in this position based off of your request to prepare the court, prepare opposing parties, and to be efficient in our use of time,” Graf said. “I’m trying to understand, I understand what you’re saying and I understand that things evolve, but I’m trying to understand why that wasn’t filed in advance of the hearing to put the court on notice at the very minimum, and just to allow the court to do what the court does?”
“I hear what the court’s saying and I think we can take responsibility for not sufficiently presenting the authorities that we think compelled what I’ve just suggested should happen,” Novak replied. “We noted in our reply brief that the county attorneys should not be representing themselves and that’s probably an inadequate message to the court, but we did file a motion to disqualify, and inherent in a motion to disqualify based on the conflict of interest we anticipated would be that the state attorneys would seek representation from a clearly non-conflicted appropriate prosecutorial authority.”
Novak maintained that the 18-year-old’s presence at the shooting was a conflict of interest that “raises serious concerns about past and future prosecutorial decision-making in this case,” according to CBS News. He said during the hearing that the team is “juggling many aspects” of the case all at once and thus did not file the motion sooner.
The judge did not find fault with the defense and did not sanction them for failing to file the motion earlier, while also saying that they must ensure they are making the “best use of [their] time.”
“It’s just [I am] hoping that as, as it requires a lot of time and resources for you and for fellow attorneys and, and for the opposing party and for other parties, we just might want to make sure we use, make the best use of our time when we’re together,” Graf said.
“I hear everything the court is saying. I take it to heart,” Novak said.
“I understand what the court’s saying and we are cognizant of the time that the court devotes to preparation for these hearings,” Novak replied.
The court was also considering whether to allow cameras in the courtroom and permit full press access. Lawyers for media outlets wrote in a filing that allowing full press access “safeguards the integrity of the fact-finding process” while properly conducting judicial proceedings. Graf previously ordered that the media could not publish photographs of Robinson in shackles and stopped a livestream of a hearing in December.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, has pushed for the trial to be open to the public to ensure transparency.
Robinson was charged with one count of aggravated murder, one count of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice for hiding the rifle and discarding his clothing, two counts of witness tampering for instructing a roommate to delete texts, and one count of committing a violent offense in front of children. Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray confirmed in September that prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.
The alleged assassin is accused of climbing onto a roof that overlooked Kirk’s campus event at Utah Valley University and shooting Kirk in the neck on Sept. 10. Two days after the shooting, Robinson’s parents recognized him in security footage released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and confronted him.
Robinson confessed and threatened to commit suicide, which prompted his father to contact a youth pastor who had previously been a law enforcement official.
The youth pastor contacted Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby, who later told the press that they promised Robinson a “peaceful” surrender as a condition for turning himself in.
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