Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old man accused of killing Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, is due in court in Utah for the start of a preliminary hearing that could determine the future of the case. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder over the September 10th assassination of Kirk, and the proceeding, expected to last about five days, marks one of the most closely watched steps so far in a case that has drawn national attention.
The purpose of the hearing is to establish whether prosecutors have gathered enough evidence for the case to move forward to a full trial, and it is also expected to weigh whether the death penalty is warranted. Robinson is accused of carrying out the killing at Utah Valley University, where Kirk had been appearing at the time. The proceeding, set to run for around five days, means the court is expected to hear from a series of witnesses before any decision is reached.
The case is being handled in an unusual way procedurally. Rather than securing a grand jury indictment behind closed doors, prosecutors charged Robinson by information, which means they must now establish probable cause at a public preliminary hearing before the matter can proceed. That process brings more of the early evidence into open court than a sealed grand jury route would.
Because it is a preliminary hearing rather than a trial, the standard that prosecutors must meet is lower. They are required to show probable cause to support the charges against Robinson, not to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a threshold that would only apply later before a jury. Defense attorneys, for their part, will be able to cross-examine the witnesses who are called.
Charlie Kirk, who was 31 and a father of two, was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event in front of thousands of young people at Utah Valley University. Robinson turned himself in a day after the shooting, and prosecutors allege he confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, saying he had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and was going to take it. Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyers have so far unsuccessfully sought to have the death penalty taken off the table.
Prosecutors have pointed to forensic evidence as part of their case. According to the account presented, investigators allege that Robinson's DNA was found on the trigger of the weapon suspected of being used in the killing. That evidence is among the material expected to be examined and tested as the preliminary hearing unfolds over the coming days.
The hearing is also expected to be an emotional occasion, and the first time that Kirk's parents and his widow, Erica Kirk, are in the courtroom with the defendant, with Donald Trump Jr. also among those who attended. Ahead of the proceedings, Kirk's immediate family, including his parents Robert and Catherine, his wife Erica and his sister Mary, issued a joint statement saying that every court proceeding served as a painful reminder of his death and of a loss that had irrevocably affected their lives. They said they remained grateful for the support they had received and asked for continued privacy as they navigated a process of immense grief.
As the preliminary hearing got under way, one early flashpoint was how much of the evidence the public would be allowed to see. Erica Kirk was again in the courtroom, and her attorney filed a request demanding that all of the evidence be shown publicly in real time, arguing that she had not been able to see everything presented and that, in the family's view, evidence admitted at the hearing should be made public for the world to see.
Judge Tony Graff turned that request down. He ruled that each exhibit would be evaluated individually, balancing transparency against Robinson's constitutional rights to a fair trial. The dispute came to a head over video testimony from Lance Twiggs, described as Robinson's former partner. The roughly 37-minute recording had been the subject of a fight over redactions, with the defense pushing to cut it to about 16 minutes and the state arguing the entire video should be released, before the judge stood by his earlier decision to keep the redactions in place.