PROVO, Utah (AP) — Defense witnesses in the prosecution of the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk said Friday that conjecture in the media over his guilt and depictions of him as a “monster” are making it impossible for Tyler Robinson to get a fair trial.
The pretrial testimony came as Robinson’s attorneys pressed a Utah judge to ban cameras from his case. They said live broadcasts of the proceedings are tainting potential jurors, by feeding into
speculative stories based on Robinson's courtroom demeanor and alleged confessions.
Media organizations, prosecutors and Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, want the court to allow cameras. They argue transparency is the best way to guard against the misinformation and conspiracy theories that concern Robinson’s defense team.
Robinson’s parents sat behind him for Friday's hearing in a half-full courtroom. His father lowered his head and stared down at his hands while the defense played a Fox News clip in which a commentator identified as a former FBI agent opined that Robinson was a sociopath.
“It's turning outside the courtroom into like a reality TV show,” said defense witness Bryan Edelman, a social psychologist with a California-based trial consulting business. “I think it creates pressure on everybody to have cameras in here, from the jury to everyone involved."
Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson if he is convicted of aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of Kirk. The conservative activist was addressing a crowd of thousands on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem when he was shot in the neck.
Robinson, 23, turned himself in a day after the shooting and has not yet entered a plea. A trial date has not been set. Judge Tony Graf said he would rule May 8 on whether cameras will continue to be allowed.
Utah County prosecutor Chad Grunander noted that nearly all of the clips shown by the defense as examples of media sensationalism did not include material from the courtroom livestream.
“Mischief lurks in the dark or in secret,” Grunander said. “Let’s shine a light on these proceedings, a bright light, so the public can have confidence in what happens in this courtroom.”
The sensationalism around the case has cut both ways. In a March 30 headline, the U.K.-based Daily Mail reported the bullet that killed Kirk “did NOT match” a rifle allegedly used by Robinson. The story was based on an inconclusive, preliminary finding by ballistics experts and led to speculation about Robinson's possible exoneration. The FBI is running additional tests, according to court documents.
Livestreaming by media outlets tested Judge Graf's patience during earlier hearings when pool camera operators inside the court broke his rules.
During a December hearing, Graf temporarily stopped the livestream after it showed the defendant’s shackles in violation of a decorum order.
A January hearing was interrupted when Robinson's attorneys said close-up shots of Robinson being livestreamed by a local television station could again lead to claims based on lip reading. That, too, was a violation of Graf's order. The judge ordered the camera operator not to film Robinson for the remainder of the hearing.
In recent hearings and again Friday, pool cameras for the media were stationed at the rear of the courtroom, behind Robinson. That sharply limited opportunities to capture video or photos of him in court. Graf also made camera operators come before him to acknowledge they understood the rules.
Mike Judd, a lawyer for a coalition of media organizations including The Associated Press that are fighting to preserve access, said Graf so far has focused on whether his rules inside the courtroom are being followed, not what the media is saying outside of court.
“The court can do all of that in order to try to control what gets fed into that media ecosystem,” Judd said. “You reduce the likelihood of somebody publishing things that you think may be of potentially biasing concern later on.”
Policies on cameras and livestreaming vary among states. Cameras are generally prohibited in federal courts.
“There's Supreme Court precedent that says courts generally need to be open to the public, but that's not an absolute right,” University of Utah law professor Teneille Brown said. “Even if they allow public access, that does not equal a right to broadcast or record.”
A preliminary hearing scheduled for May will allow prosecutors to show they have enough evidence to proceed to trial. Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.
But the defense argued Friday it cannot proceed with the hearing until federal law enforcement agencies turn over more details about their DNA analysis of evidence.
Prosecutors responded that they have sufficient proof beyond DNA to tie Robinson to Kirk's killing. That includes surveillance video of Robinson near the university from the morning of the shooting wearing the same clothes as when he turned himself in. Robinson left a handwritten note for his romantic partner confessing to the crime, and also confessed to friends on the chat room platform Discord, prosecutors said.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride said.
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
