Tyler Roibnson's case 'should not be made into a reality TV show,' attorneys argue

PROVO — Tyler Robinson is once again seeking to keep cameras out of the courtroom at his upcoming hearing.

Robinson's preliminary hearing to determine if he will stand trial for capital murder and the six other charges he's accused of will resume in 4th District Judge Tony Graf's courtroom next week.

Robinson, 23, is accused of shooting and killing conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. Prosecutors have stated they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

In July, a week-long preliminary hearing was held in Graf's courtroom for both sides to present evidence. A preliminary hearing is held to determine whether there is sufficient probable cause to go to trial on the charges that have been filed. A person's guilt or innocence is not determined at a preliminary hearing, and the bar the state must meet to show probable cause during the hearing is low.

Prosecutors submitted their memorandum on July 28 summarizing why they believe Robinson should stand trial for aggravated murder. Robinson's defense team then filed their 41-page reply contending that the state failed to prove there were aggravating factors with Robinson's charges, a required element in seeking the death penalty.

Both sides will now gather in Graf's courtroom again on Sept. 1 to present their final closing arguments.

Robinson, however, has renewed his request to keep cameras out of the courtroom.

Over the weekend, defense attorneys filed their oppositions to requests from the Salt Lake Tribune and KUTV for a still photographer and a television camera to cover the Sept. 1 hearing. They also filed motions to have the full unredacted content of those requests marked as "private" and sealed.

Robinson contends having cameras in the courtroom during the preliminary hearing will jeopardize his right to a fair trial by potentially sullying a future jury pool.

"Specific to the preliminary hearing, the electronic media coverage will memorialize and widely disseminate the anticipated largely hearsay-based evidentiary presentation from the state. Such evidence is, by its very nature, insufficiently reliable for admission at trial," their motion states. "It bears repeating, the state of Utah is seeking the death penalty against Mr. Robinson. The taking of evidence during the preliminary examination and the determinations made by the court thereafter based upon that evidence is a critical stage of these capital proceedings. The media presence in the courtroom both distracts and places added pressure on hearing participants to present for the media, as opposed to focusing on the facts, evidence, and mechanics of the hearing. Mr. Robinson's case is not and should not be made into a reality TV show."

The public version of the request to keep cameras out of the courtroom includes a redacted paragraph that comes after the sentence, "Additional evidence of bias developing as a result of the widespread publication of this case can be tracked in real time."

Before Robinson's preliminary hearing in July, Graf issued a decision stating that "(Robinson's) objections to all other electronic media requests are overruled."

Throughout the week-long hearing in July, Graf acknowledged Robinson's standing objection to evidence being live-streamed, which included pieces of evidence that were already public. Extended debates over what evidence could be shown to the public and what could only be viewed by attorneys and the judge became a central theme of the hearing and prompted Erika Kirk's attorney to file a brief with the court calling for all evidence to be public.

"The victim's family's position is simple. At a minimum, every exhibit entered into evidence during the preliminary hearing must be visible to every person lawfully present in the courtroom," Jeff Neiman, the attorney for the Kirk family, stated in his request.

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