Judge could set trial dates for Tyler Robinson in Friday afternoon hearing

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Judge Tony Graf will discuss Tyler Robinson's trial date on Friday afternoon.
Robinson's attorneys requested a 2029 trial, prosecutors proposed starting in early 2028.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, requested a 2027 trial.

SALT LAKE CITY — Tyler Robinson may have his jury trial scheduled at a hearing on Friday afternoon, but attorneys say they still need at least a year — or three — to prepare for the trial.

Fourth District Judge Tony Graf asked the attorneys to provide general timelines for the case ahead of Friday's hearing, and they submitted those late Wednesday.

Robinson's attorneys said they will need three years to prepare for the trial that they estimate to last for seven months. They suggested starting it in the third quarter of 2029.

The Utah County Attorney's Office, on the other hand, said in its memorandum that they anticipate a 17-week trial (about four months) and they will be ready to go in a week, proposing the trial start Jan. 31, 2028.

Friday's hearing will not be livestreamed, but this story will be updated to reflect the outcome.

In September, Robinson, 23, was ordered 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. Prosecutors have said they are seeking the death penalty in the case.

Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, responded to the attorneys' estimates with a motion on Thursday asking for a speedy trial, requesting it start as early as possible in 2027.

Her attorneys argued that postponing the trial as the defense recommended would be "grossly out of line" with other similar cases and is inappropriate. It cited multiple Utah murder cases where defendants went to trial within one or two years, and claimed a four-year timeline would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

"Utah law requires that the victims' interests receive actual weight in setting trial. ... Those interests include a judicial process that is fair, transparent, and without needless delay," her motion says.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.