Judge in Tyler Robinson case wants attorneys ready to set trial dates

PROVO — The judge overseeing the Tyler Robinson capital murder case wants attorneys to be ready to set trial dates at Robinson's next hearing.

Fourth District Judge Tony Graf issued an order late last week for prosecutors and defense attorneys to be prepared during the upcoming Oct. 23 hearing to set up a timeline for Robinson's case, including how long they anticipate they will need to prepare for trial, how many days they expect a trial will last and when they will be ready to start the trial.

Graf wants memorandums submitted no later than Oct. 21 detailing "the estimated time needed to prepare for jury trial, including the requested preparation period in calendar days and an itemized description of the anticipated preparation tasks, with reasonable estimates of the days and hours required" and "the estimated number of trial days required and the number of trial hours per day."

Last month, Robinson, 23, was bound over to stand trial on seven charges including aggravated murder for allegedly shooting conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on the campus at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, during a Turning Point USA rally. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Immediately after being bound over, Robinson was arraigned. His attorneys entered a "not guilty" plea to all seven counts. Robinson's next court hearing will be a pre-trial conference on Oct. 23. Graf noted in his order, however, that the proposed schedule will not be binding and attorneys can request scheduling adjustments or modifications as unexpected issues come up.

During the Oct. 23 hearing, Graf also wants attorneys to be prepared to talk about the estimated time needed to seat a jury, including alternate jurors. And "if a capital penalty phase is applicable, counsel shall separately estimate the preparation and trial time needed for that phase, including aggravation and mitigation evidence."

"At the Oct. 23 hearing, the court will consider the proposed trial dates, preparation periods, pretrial deadlines, anticipated trial length, and number of alternate jurors. Counsel shall be prepared to explain their proposals and address any scheduling objections," Graf's order states.

Longtime Salt Lake City defense attorney Greg Skordas, who has also worked as a prosecutor and is currently a host on KSL NewsRadio, says a trial likely won't happen for at least a year and maybe not until 2028. Skordas has no involvement in the Robinson case and spoke to KSL as a third-party observer.

Skordas says he would have thought the preliminary hearing for Robinson would have taken two days. Instead, it lasted over a week. Because of that, even though Skordas believes a trial for Robinson should go for about 2 to 3 weeks, it will likely be much longer. The Robinson case, he said, has been "longer than expected on all levels."

But Skordas also notes that because it is a death penalty case, the defense can't leave anything on the table. They will "challenge the state's case on everything they can," he said, predicting the defense team will increase its challenges to the potential death sentence as the case moves along.

As for any effort by Robinson's defense team to change the venue and have the case moved out of Utah County, Skordas points to the Kouri Richins murder trial. The Kamas mother was twice denied attempts to have her case moved to Salt Lake County and Richins was eventually convicted of killing her husband. Skordas says a fair jury was seated in that case, and noted that Summit County has a much smaller population than Utah County.

Just because someone has heard of Tyler Robinson doesn't automatically make them ineligible to be a juror, he said. As long as someone can listen to the evidence presented in court and put aside any information they may have heard about Robinson from other sources, Skordas says that person could be on the jury.

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