Why the attorney for Charlie Kirk's suspected killer may cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah County announced the name of the defense attorney who will represent the man accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk at UVU, and according to legal experts, the price tag will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands at a minimum. KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas helped Utah County select the legal representation for the alleged shooter, Tyler James Robinson, 22. The Utah County Commission announced on Wednesday that its members unanimously approved a contract to appoint Kathryn Nester as Robinson's defense attorney. The reason for such a high cost, Skordas said, is because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in Robinson's case. Finding the defense attorney to represent him began with finding counsel qualified to handle the death penalty, according to Skordas. That automatically limits the pool of potential lawyers who could do it, and forces the county to search for attorneys outside its boundaries. Utah County Attorney Jeffrey S. Gray cannot pick his own opponent in the courtroom, so he's asked KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas to assist Utah County commissioners in their search. Skordas said there were only 20-30 qualified attorneys in Utah who could do it, but the county had had interest from law firms nationwide, including California, Texas and Maryland. "You know, death penalty cases are expensive in some parts of the country," Skordas said. "They can be $1 million or more. Utah doesn't have that kind of a budget, and really, none of our counties have that kind of a budget. So we're looking at how we can get good lawyers to work within the budget that we have." Skordas declined to detail the county's budget for Robinson's representation, but said county officials want to hire the right attorney now so they don't have to revisit the case years later. Given the high-profile nature of the case, Skordas said it will draw attention from interested law firms. However, he also said it will be challenging to find a qualified candidate with the time to dedicate to the case, and is willing to deal with the expected publicity. As of Thursday morning, Skordas said the county was considering hiring a candidate. He expected the county would make the hire later that day.

Contributing:Mary Culbertson, KSL TV

Editor's Note:KSL legal analyst and radio talk show host Greg Skordas is a respected defense attorney. Greg has served in an unpaid consulting capacity for Utah County for several years, helping to ensure appropriate legal representation in complex cases where constitutional rights are at stake, including Capital cases.In the Tyler Robinson case, Greg is not acting as legal counsel for Mr. Robinson, nor is he involved in the investigation or prosecution. His limited role is to assist the County in the formal process of assigning indigent defense counsel, something he does as a public service and without compensation.This advisory role is entirely separate from his on-air work at KSL.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to more accurately reflect that Utah County commissioners are the ones who contract with defense council, not the Utah County Attorney's Office.