A weeklong concludes Friday for the man accused of killing conservative activist . Prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial.
The 23-year-old Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. State District Judge Tony Graf is not expected to rule immediately.
The hearing resumed Friday with Robinson鈥檚 lawyers planning to call a final witness as they try to raise doubts about the prosecution鈥檚 case. The defense has previously challenged the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk鈥檚 body and fought the release of with Robinson鈥檚 , Lance Twiggs, as well as chat room messages Robinson wrote on Discord.
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Judge says news media camera can stay, but can鈥檛 record video of evidence today
Graf said after reviewing livestream recording that it鈥檚 clear the news media camera operator caught the issue first, about 14 seconds before the judge himself spotted it and asked that the exhibit be taken down.
鈥淐ompliance with court orders is essential in all proceedings,鈥� Graf says, and protecting the constitutional rights of both defendant Tyler Robinson and Charlie Kirk鈥檚 widow Erika Kirk is 鈥減aramount.鈥�
Transparency for the public is also important, Graf said.
Defense attorney Richard Novak wanted the judge to bar the news media camera from the courtroom for the rest of the preliminary hearing as well as for a Sept. 1 proceeding, when both sides will present final arguments over whether the case should go to trial.
But Graf said the camera can stay, as long as it doesn鈥檛 record video of any evidence presented. He later noted that the livestream鈥檚 audio can capture discussion about such evidence.
Media attorney says courtroom livestreams are a team effort
Typically, an announcement is made that an exhibit is going to be shown on the courtroom screen. That gives the camera operator a moment to redirect the camera or to wait a beat before focusing in, depending on what the judge has ordered.
But in this case, prosecutors showed the exhibit with no warning, news media attorney Michael Judd said.
Judd said the camera operator quickly realized what had happened and moved the camera away within about two seconds.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride agreed that the image should not have appeared on the livestream, but told the judge the text of the messages 鈥� if not the actual image 鈥� had already been made public in law enforcement documents.
Graf said he wants to review the livestream recording before deciding how to handle the violation.
Judge is deciding how to handle a violation of an order barring some evidence from public view
Graf is taking a break to review livestream footage from Thursday, because a piece of evidence that was supposed to be kept from public view was briefly shown on camera.
The evidence 鈥� an image of written communication between Tyler Robinson and his then-roommate and romantic partner 鈥� has been published and is even able to be purchased as photographic prints, defense attorney Richard Novak told the judge. He said the publication violated Robinson鈥檚 fair-trial rights, and he wants the judge to issue sanctions, a kind of legal punishment.
The judge allowed prosecutors to display an image of the evidence on Thursday, but said it could only be shown to the courtroom gallery. Later, prosecutors put up a side-by-side comparison of that image with another photo, and the side-by-side view was briefly caught by the news media camera operator, who quickly panned away.
Salt Lake City woman came bearing gifts for the Kirk family
Tiani Shoemaker drove about an hour from her Salt Lake City home bearing gifts for Charlie Kirk鈥檚 mother and hoping for a seat in the courtroom. Security turned her away.
Shoemaker said she brought a hat decorated with the words, 鈥渓ove like a mother,鈥� and a note expressing her condolences and admiration for Kathryn Kirk.
The note was to tell Kirk that 鈥渢he whole world鈥檚 hurting because of the loss of your son,鈥� Shoemaker said, adding that she wanted to be 鈥渁 part of history.鈥�
鈥淭his really is like the whole world is focused on little Provo, Utah right now,鈥� she said.
Shoemaker said some of her friends and extended family members witnessed the shooting and were left traumatized. 鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 even be in large crowds for a while. It鈥檚 really 鈥� it鈥檚 upsetting, you know?鈥�
Zoomed-in version of 鈥榮niper鈥檚 perch鈥� video to be shown in court
The judge said at the close of Thursday鈥檚 hearing that at the request of Kirk鈥檚 family, he would allow to be shown inside the courtroom an altered version of a campus surveillance video that prosecutors said shows Robinson crawling out to a rooftop 鈥渟niper鈥檚 perch鈥� before shooting Kirk.
The unaltered video was previously shown. The altered version includes footage that zooms in on a figure that prosecutors said was Robinson and red marks that were added to the video.
Court is in session
Graf is again reminding attendees of his courtroom rules, including restrictions on electronic devices for many attendees.
Court security director says courtroom visitors shouldn鈥檛 look at the parents
Chris Palmer, Court Security Director at Utah State Courts, spoke outside the courthouse as people lined up again hoping for a spot in the courtroom. He warned them that people in the gallery should not make the parents of Charlie Kirk or Tyler Robinson feel uncomfortable by looking at them during the hearing.
鈥淭hese people come here to get justice, and they don鈥檛 need to feel like they鈥檙e under a microscope from somebody sitting behind them or ahead of them,鈥� Palmer said.
Joshua Carr of Provo, Utah, was among those in the gallery and said 鈥淧eople were pretty respectful.鈥�
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 seeing people turning their heads. Again, we have the 鈥� the public was there. We had the Robinson family in front of us, we had the Kirk family behind us.鈥�
Would-be court watchers hope persistence will pay off
Billie Webb of Salt Lake City was among the people who slept outside the courthouse all night hoping to get one of the few public seats inside the hearing.
鈥淚鈥檝e tried to go every single day,鈥� Webb said Thursday night. 鈥淭oday I wasn鈥檛 able to get in once again. I did get in yesterday for the first time. I did get in yesterday for the first time and I am absolutely determined to be there tomorrow.鈥�
鈥淪howed up at 3 a.m. Today for this one. Still did not get in. I was 16th and there鈥檚 14 spots. So I will be camping all night here today. Probably 12 hours. 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.,鈥� she said.
Score. Friday morning, Webb got the pink wristband she needed for a spot inside.
There are only 14 seats for the public in the courtroom
People have been lining up early 鈥� sometimes sleeping outside the doors 鈥� in hopes of getting a wristband for a seat in the courthouse this week. Only 14 wristbands are given out each day, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Chris Palmer, the court鈥檚 director of security, warned Thursday morning that tents and other camping supplies won鈥檛 be allowed as people seek a seat for the final day of the hearing Friday. He also warned against jumping in line or saving spots for someone else.
Earlier in the week, court security said it discovered some people had bought colored wristbands to try to sneak in.
Defense tries to sow doubt about ballistics evidence
One of Tyler Robinson鈥檚 attorneys, Michael Burt, tried to inject doubt into the prosecution鈥檚 case by challenging the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk鈥檚 body.
Authorities sought to tie the fragment to the suspected murder weapon, but the results were inconclusive.
鈥淪aying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate,鈥� said Samantha Karner with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The defense earlier in the week had questioned the reliability of DNA evidence that investigators said linked Robinson to the scene. Experts say the science behind DNA testing is sound.
Robinson鈥檚 attorneys plan to have a second person from ATF testify Friday.
The prosecution ended its presentation Thursday afternoon.
Testimony in five-day preliminary hearing wraps Friday
After testimony in the hearing ends Friday, State District Judge Tony Graf will rule whether prosecutors have shown enough evidence to proceed to trial. But a decision from Graf won鈥檛 come immediately.
Attorneys on both sides say they鈥檇 like the benefit of seeing the court transcript of the preliminary hearing and want to submit written briefs before Graf weighs in.
That will take weeks to play out. Graf set oral arguments on the evidence presented in the preliminary hearing for Sept. 1.
Graf tends not to make immediate rulings.
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