Judge Tony Graf has denied Tyler Robinson's efforts to have portions of his upcoming preliminary hearing held behind closed doors and to keep some evidence exhibits hidden from public view.
The preliminary hearing is a routine step where prosecutors will attempt to convince they court they have enough probable cause to bring the case to trial, and they are expected to succeed.
In response to a separate motion to sanction prosecutors for allegedly speaking about the case improperly outside of court, Graf ordered a hearing for both sides to present arguments regarding the defense allegation.
TYLER ROBINSON JUDGE UNSEALS ATF REPORT IN ASSASSINATION OF CHARLIE KIRK
Both sides will have 90 minutes to speak at a June 12 hearing.
That motion stemmed from prosecutors' attempt to "set the record straight" after an allegedly misleading claim in defense court filings went viral after suggesting ballistics investigators could not match the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk to the suspected murder weapon.
An appendix to an ATF report explained that "inconclusive" findings mean that was "an examiner's opinion that there is an insufficient quality and/or quantity of individual characteristics to identify or exclude."
The bullet itself was destroyed and insufficient for conclusive findings but was consistent in caliber, according to the report. A spent casing, recovered along with the suspected murder weapon, was a match.
Police allegedly recovered the rifle wrapped in a towel in a patch of woods near campus. And prosecutors have said that text messages between Robinson and his romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, allegedly discuss wanting to retrieve the rifle as well as a confession.
Prosecutors have alleged that separate testing found DNA consistent with Robinson's on the gun, on the towel and on three of the four rounds inside.
Judge Tony Graf also denied a demand from Tyler Robinson's defense team to receive communications from within the Utah County Attorney's Office about the interviews prosecutors gave while publicly pushing back against the defense's disputed ballistics claim.
"Because defendant seeks an order for civil rather than criminal contempt and because the focus of the claims is on the potential impact the disseminated statements may have had on the potential jury pool, the court respectfully declines to issue an order compelling the Utah County Attorney's Office to produce the requested discovery," Graf said in the brief virtual hearing.
Still, he granted the defense a hearing on allegations that prosecutors spoke improperly outside of court — an allegation that Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray's office denies.
Prosecutors have told the court they were trying to "set the record straight" after they said misleading language in a defense filing led to viral suggestions that investigators could not match the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk to the suspected murder weapon — a .30-06 caliber Mauser rifle.
The bullet fragment was too damaged after impact, so the findings were inconclusive, authorities argued. But the caliber was a match and so was a spent casing, according to prosecutors.
Robinson's defense lawyers initially asserted that "the ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson."
Deputy County Attorney Christopher Ballard called that line misleading and "misstated," but not before it generated millions of views from just one report — and inspired additional coverage in local and national media.
"The ATF was unable to identify or exclude the bullet as having been fired from the rifle," he countered. "Defendant reinforced this misleading inference by following it up with, 'the defense may very well decide to offer the testimony of the ATF firearm analyst as exculpatory evidence.'"
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.
{{#rendered}}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.
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