A tense exchange inside a Utah courtroom shifted attention away from testimony and onto a heated dispute over how the high-profile murder case should be handled in public.
The disagreement erupted as attorneys sparred over what evidence should be presented during the preliminary hearing, with one side accusing the other of losing sight of the court’s purpose.
Tyler Robinson’s defense attorney sharply criticized the attorney representing Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, accusing him of wasting the court’s time and attempting to litigate the case through the media instead of focusing on the legal issues before the court.
Defense attorney Michael Burt urged Judge Tony F. Graf Jr. to move the hearing forward and focus on determining whether prosecutors had established probable cause.
“Judge, at this point in the proceeding, we’re asking the court to keep focus on the purpose of this hearing. And as the justices said in the Estes case, the purpose of a trial. And I know this isn’t a trial, but the same logic applies is to determine the defendant’s guilt. It’s not to educate the public or the victim’s family or the world on what evidence the government or the state has. As a court knows, we have witness availability problems.
“We spent the bulk of today and yesterday arguing about, nothing to do with the evidence in the case, but with rights of third parties. And it’s appropriate for the court to consider that. But at some point, I think the court has to return to the purpose of these hearings, which is to, expeditiously, hear the evidence and then determine probable cause.”
Burt then took direct aim at Erika Kirk’s attorney, arguing that he already had opportunities outside the courtroom to discuss evidence publicly.
“And I want to point out to the court, Miss Kirk has been very adept at holding press conferences at which he has revealed evidence. She has represented that the state is her attorney. She has access to all the evidence that the state has publicized, and that the media and her own lawyer argues is already in the public domain.
“So they’re perfectly free to go outside this courtroom under the court’s protective order, they’re free to go out and hold press conferences and announce to the world outside the courtroom what they think the evidence is. They have the availability of that evidence.”
The exchange came during the penultimate day of Robinson’s preliminary hearing.
Earlier in the day, Judge Graf ruled that evidence admitted during the hearing would be presented using a tiered process to determine whether it would be shown only to the court, to those in the courtroom gallery or to the public.
The judge also ruled that text messages, Discord messages and handwritten notes between Robinson and others could be introduced into evidence with limited redactions to remove personal addresses and phone numbers.
Following those rulings, prosecutors continued presenting evidence through Utah State Bureau of Investigation agents, including a recorded interview with Robinson’s former roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs.
Jurors also heard text messages prosecutors allege Robinson sent after the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting, including messages in which he allegedly admitted responsibility for Charlie Kirk’s death, discussed retrieving a rifle and instructed Twiggs to delete their conversation.
Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder, discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.
He has not entered a plea, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if he is convicted.
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