The Utah judge also set a June 12 hearing on defense allegations that prosecutors’ public statements violated a gag order in the case of alleged killer, Tyler James Robinson.
By Catholics for Catholics
A pivotal hearing in the case of Tyler James Robinson, the alleged gunman in the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, will be open to the public and media, a judge declared in a June 1 ruling.
According to a story by The Epoch Times, Judge Tony Graf Jr. also dictated that prosecutors could be held in contempt for out-of-court statements to the media, depending on the outcome of a hearing he set for June 12 in Utah’s Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah.
Appearing via video with the attorneys in the case, Judge Graf Jr. made his conclusions based on contentions from attorneys representing the prosecution, defense, and media outlets on May 19.
Robinson’s lawyers asked the judge to at least partially block access to the preliminary hearing set for July 6–10. That hearing, a necessary step before trial, calls for prosecutors to present enough evidence to support charges against Robinson.
Robinson, the 23-year-old defendant and alleged gunman, if convicted for the murder of Kirk, could be executed. Kirk, the founder of the popular Turning Point USA youth movement and who since his death has been hailed by many new Catholic converts as a pivotal figure for their conversion nationwide, was fatally shot while speaking during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2025.
Robinson, who was captured days after the killing of Kirk for his alleged part in the assassination, faces seven charges. He is accused of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of obstructing justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Based on the presumption that proceedings should remain open, Graf said Robinson’s defense attorneys provided only “generalized concerns” that evidence disclosed during the preliminary hearing, set for July 6–10, could jeopardize their client’s right to a fair trial.
Further, “several methods remain available” to protect that right, the judge ruled. Those include enlarging the pool of potential jurors and using more rigorous jury questionnaires to weed out those whose exposure to news coverage has created prejudice.
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