Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin Tyler Robinson tries to boot prosecutors from case

quote:

---

Defense attorneys for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk are asking a Utah judge to remove the entire Utah County Attorney’s Office from the case, arguing prosecutors are compromised by a serious conflict of interest tied directly to the deadly shooting.

In a court filing obtained by Fox News Digital, attorneys for Tyler James Robinson allege that senior members of the prosecutor’s office had "personal and familial connections to the crime scene," failed to step aside and allowed emotion to influence the decision to seek the death penalty.

---

quote:

---

The filing alleges the prosecutor received real-time text messages from the family member describing the chaos and reporting that Kirk had been shot in the neck. Those messages, the defense claims, were immediately shared with County Attorney Jeffrey Gray and other members of the prosecution team before any conflict review or ethical screening was put in place.

Despite that personal connection, the prosecutor allegedly remained actively involved in the case, retained supervisory authority over the prosecution team, and discussed the matter internally, raising concerns that prosecutorial discretion may have been influenced by personal fear, trauma or bias.

Defense attorneys argue no recusal occurred and no ethical firewall was established to isolate the conflict, steps courts typically require to protect a defendant’s right to a fair and impartial prosecution. They contend that even the appearance of bias is constitutionally problematic, particularly in a case where the State is seeking the ultimate punishment.

---

quote:

---

The filing also questions the timing of the prosecution’s decision to pursue the death penalty. Utah law allows prosecutors up to 60 days after arraignment to file a notice of intent, but in Robinson’s case, the notice was filed immediately alongside the charging documents.

The defense argues the unusually rapid move came just days after prosecutors learned of their colleague’s family member’s traumatic experience at the shooting, raising concerns that emotion, rather than detached legal judgment, played a role in the decision.

---