- Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing may be delayed at the request of the defense.
- Defense argues lack of FBI and ATF DNA data hinders their case preparation.
- Robinson seeks to ban courtroom cameras, citing potential bias from media coverage.
PROVO — Whether Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing should be delayed and his efforts to keep cameras out of the courtroom are being debated Friday in court.
Robinson, who turned 23 on Thursday, is accused of shooting and killing political activist Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. He is charged with capital murder and faces a potential death sentence if convicted.
During the first part of Friday's hearing, 4th District Judge Tony Graf listened to arguments from both sides about whether his preliminary hearing, scheduled to begin May 18, should be postponed.
Robinson and his defense team say they have not yet received the "appropriate discovery" needed to prepare for the preliminary hearing, specifically DNA reports from the FBI and ATF.
"We have a right at a preliminary hearing to both examine and cross-examine witnesses," defense attorney Richard Novak argued in court. "We can't do that when the ATF and FBI have not provided us with appropriate discovery.
"We can't present any expert testimony on DNA without having the underlying data," he continued.
Novak encouraged Graf to have the state ask the FBI why they haven't turned over that data yet, even though, as early as September, the FBI alleged in preliminary reports that Robinson's DNA was found on key pieces of evidence, such as the rifle allegedly used to shoot Kirk.
Prosecutors responded by reminding the judge that the state has a low bar at the preliminary hearing stage to show probable cause. Ryan McBride, with the Utah County Attorney's Office, said for a preliminary hearing, there is "one purpose and one purpose only: to determine probable cause."
McBride said the state has four categories of evidence it plans to provide at the hearing: surveillance video from UVU; circumstantial evidence tying Robinson to a rifle and bullet casings found following the shooting; several alleged confessions made by Robinson; and DNA. Even if all the DNA evidence hasn't been turned over or analyzed yet, McBride said, for the purpose of a preliminary hearing, any of the other three categories alone establishes probable cause.
"They're not going to be able to defeat a confession … multiple confessions," he said.
"Core" evidence that the state intends to use at the preliminary hearing has already been shared with the defense, McBride said. Expert testimony, he said, is not necessary in the early stages of the court proceedings.
Watch Friday's proceedings here:
If the preliminary hearing is continued, McBride guessed it would be pushed back at least six months and possibly longer. Graf questioned each of Robinson's four defense attorneys and asked how long they would need to prepare for the hearing with the evidence they already have. The defense team collectively noted they needed at least four more months to review the very large amount of discovery that had been shared in the case. Lead attorney Kathy Nester also noted that she had been tied up with the recently completed Kouri Richins murder trial and has not had sufficient time to review evidence in the Robinson case.
Graf is expected to rule whether to delay the scheduled preliminary hearing in the coming weeks.
There is a heavy security presence once again, with more than a dozen Utah County sheriff's deputies dressed in SWAT gear inside and around the courtroom.
The second part of Robinson's hearing on Friday is expected to focus on his efforts to keep cameras out of the courtroom. His attorneys filed a motion in January requesting that "television cameras and microphones, still photographers, radio microphones and other similar implements of the electronic or broadcast media" be kept out of the courtroom during his legal proceedings. The motion was filed under seal because Robinson claimed he didn't want the news stories and press conferences his team cited as reasons for banning cameras to then be republicized by the media.
Robinson contends that electronic media coverage threatens his due process and his rights to seating a fair and impartial jury.
In March, Graf denied Robinson's request to keep the motion sealed, ruling that a lot of the so-called sensitive information is already public. He agreed, however, that information determined to be "private" could remain redacted.
The Utah County Attorney's Office countered that the publicity surrounding the high-profile case has also raised concerns for the office. But unlike the defense team, prosecutors say that's exactly why cameras and microphones should remain in the courtroom.
"Keeping court proceedings as public as possible helps to quell and contradict the tide of misinformation," prosecutors said in their reply.
The defense is expected to call several witnesses on Friday, including Christine L. Ruva, a professor and chair of psychology at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, and Bryan Edelman of California, who holds a Ph.D. in social psychology, and assisted the defense of Bryan Kohberger, who was convicted in the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
"Ruva will testify as to the research and opinions described in her declaration, and to her opinion that the nature and extent of publicity in this case is reasonably likely to cause conscious or unconscious bias," the defense says.
Edelman is expected to provide testimony regarding a telephone survey conducted on March 13 and will discuss "the demographic size and social and political characteristics of the adult population of Utah County" as well as "the results of the public opinion surveys and other studies conducted by others, such as the media." He will also discuss "his review of the electronic pretrial publicity in this case and will offer his opinion regarding the prejudicial nature of such publicity," according to the defense team's notice of appearance.
In his motion, Robinson points to the extensive media coverage the killing of Kirk received even before Robinson's arrest, and comments made by people such as Gov. Spencer Cox and President Donald Trump.
Robinson says he further plans to provide the court on Friday "with evidence detailing private information … (that) was publicized by government officials in violation of Utah and federal law," his motion argues. "It is anticipated that the individuals will offer testimony as to these facts and, as witnesses both to the issues presented and potentially future hearings, their safety and privacy are paramount."
An attorney representing the media will also be in attendance and ready to present should the court allow it.
First Amendment attorneys have argued that there has never been a case in Utah in which a defendant was found to have received an unfair trial because of pretrial publicity, even though there have been many high-profile criminal cases in Utah before Robinson's.
This story will be updated.
