PROVO, Utah (AP) — LAYDOWN TO RUN TUESDAY 9/1 AT 12:01 A.M. ET//Hearing starts at 10 a.m. MDT
A Utah judge will decide Tuesday if there's enough evidence to put the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on trial for aggravated murder, which would make him eligible for the death penalty.
The hearing in state court comes after prosecutors in July spent five days presenting what they said was “overwhelming” evidence that Tyler Robinson killed the conservative
activist while he was speaking at an open-air event on a college campus.
The 23-year-old defendant turned himself in a day after the shooting at Utah Valley University last September. He has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyers have not offered alternative theories for Kirk’s death. They've focused instead on blocking the case from proceeding to trial and trying to get the death penalty taken off the table.
District Judge Tony Graf has the option to send the case to trial on a lesser charge of murder, which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison, said Steve Burton, director of the Utah Defense Attorney Association. Graf could also dismiss the charges against Robinson, in which case prosecutors could refile them.
A key factor in charging aggravated murder is whether the shooting endangered others.
Attorneys will present final arguments Tuesday — closing out an unusually long preliminary — and Graf plans to announce his decision from the bench, state courts spokesperson Tania Mashburn said.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, were expected back in the Provo courtroom after attending in July.
Arguments will likely focus on whether Utah County prosecutors have enough evidence to support the heightened charge of aggravated murder.
In recent court filings, defense attorneys argued that the shooter “hit the intended target” and did not endanger others. But prosecutors said numerous people were within a “zone of danger” around Kirk when he was shot from a rooftop more than 400 feet (122 meters) away.
Robinson also faces potential sentencing enhancements if prosecutors can show he targeted Kirk for his political beliefs.
Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help President Donald Trump win a second term.
Prosecutors have argued that an engraved bullet found in the suspected murder weapon shows that Kirk was targeted for how the defendant perceived his politics. The inscription “Hey Facist! CATCH!” is an “overt political reference,” they argued in court documents.
A handwritten note that prosecutors allege Robinson left for his romantic partner read in part, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.” They also allege Robinson wrote in a text message about Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Robinson’s attorneys have argued that prosecutors do not have strong enough evidence to prove a political motivation.
In July, investigators presented DNA analyses that they said linked Robinson to the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — and a tool he allegedly used to engrave the bullet cartridges.
Robinson's reported romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, told investigators in a recorded interview that Robinson said the day after Kirk was killed that “he wishes he hadn’t done it.” Later that same day — and only about an hour before turning himself in — Robinson posted “it was me at UVU yesterday” in an online chat room, according to investigators.
Defense attorneys challenged the reliability of DNA tests and unsuccessfully fought against the public release of the Twiggs interview, warning prosecutors would characterize it as a confession. Twiggs said in the interview that he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting.
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
