A Utah court ruled against Tyler Robinson on Monday by allowing the media to cover his upcoming preliminary hearing in the Charlie Kirk murder case.
Utah Judge Tony Graf denied a motion from Robinson’s lawyers to keep media outlets out of the July pretrial hearing during a televised Monday proceeding. The preliminary hearing will explore whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial for allegedly climbing a rooftop at Utah Valley University in Orem and fatally shooting the conservative activist on Sept. 10 over his political views.
BREAKING: Judge Tony Graf issued two rulings today in the Tyler Robinson case:
• Ordered an evidentiary hearing for June 12 on whether Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray and Chris Ballard violated the court’s pre-trial publicity order by speaking to national media.
• Denied the… pic.twitter.com/5EDC06g0aQ
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) June 1, 2026
Should media be allowed in the courtroom for Tyler Robinson's hearing?
The law firm defending Robinson did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Graf’s ruling marks the latest in a series of pretrial losses for Robinson after the judge denied their requests to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office from the case and for a blanket ban on cameras in the courtroom, according to reports and broadcasted hearings. However, Graf also said Monday that he is scheduling a June 12 hearing for attorneys to argue whether prosecutors violated a pretrial publicity order through opinionated comments to the press.
“The public and the media enjoy a presumptive right to access court proceedings, including preliminary hearings,” said Graf, an appointee of Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
Robinson’s lawyers failed to establish “that the evidence, if presented in a public proceeding, would create a realistic likelihood of prejudice to defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Graf said.
The defendant is charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child over the Sept. 10 shooting. Utah is pursuing the death penalty for the killing. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
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