Charlie Kirk's Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Seeks to Have Death Penalty Thrown Out Over Claims of Misconduct
Tyler Robinson's lawyers want the possibility of the death penalty removed in his upcoming trial.
June 23 2026, Published 6:40 p.m. ET
The defense team representing Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin believes the death penalty should be off the table at his upcoming trial, after prosecutors allegedly broke a gag order in the case, RadarOnline.com can report.
Tyler Robinson's legal team want to hold Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard in contempt for openly discussing its claims the bullet used to kill the conservative commentator did not match Robinson's rifle.
Robinson's Attorneys Demand Sanctions
Robinson's lawyers argue prosecutors violated a gag order.
As Radar reported, Robinson's attorneys argued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives "was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson."
In response, Ballard went on what Robinson's lawyers called a willful "media tour" discussing the details and allegedly violating the gag order.
At a pre-trial hearing, lawyer Richard Novack told Judge Tony Graf sanctions should be imposed on the opposition.
"I think that the number one remedy in this case is to preclude the state from seeking the death penalty against Mr. Robinson," Novack said.
'Mischaracterization of Bullet Evidence'
Kirk was shot and killed on a Utah college campus in September 2025.
However, Ballard insists he only spoke to the media to correct the defense's "mischaracterization of bullet evidence", which he argues fueled intense media coverage that questioned whether their case was flawed.
"My concern is that it would feed the idea the state did not have sufficient evidence in the case," Ballard said. "This was a significant issue, and we needed to figure out how to respond to that."
Ballard has stated, "In a murder case where a victim was killed by a single bullet, it is difficult to imagine publicity that would be more unduly prejudicial than false reports that the bullet recovered from the victim was proven to have not been fired from the defendant’s rifle."
Judge Graf is expected to rule on the defense request on Friday, June 26.
Accusations of Conflict of Interest
Robinson's attorneys have sparred with state prosecutors throughout the pre-trial proceedings.
This isn't the first time Robinson's attorneys have tried to sanction prosecutors. After months of back-and-forth between the two sides, Judge Graf rejected a request to disqualify the entire Utah County prosecutors' office after it was revealed the adult child of one of the prosecutors was in the audience at Utah Valley University when Kirk, 31, was shot and killed last September.
The 22-year-old's lawyers argued the particular prosecutor had an "emotional connection" to the case, and could "motivate" the state to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.
But in their official response, state lawyers said that was not true.
"(The attorney) has no personal conflict of interest because his (child) is neither a material witness nor a victim in the case," prosecutors argued. "In fact, nearly everything (the child) knows about the actual homicide is hearsay. And because Mr. (redacted) has no conflict of interest, the county attorney's office also has no conflict of interest requiring disqualification."
Prosecutors Hit Back
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Robinson has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges.
Prosecutors said the 18-year-old was one of "thousands of other witnesses" and never saw the shooting. They also pointed toward text messages exchanged between the lawyer father and his teenage daughter in the minutes after the shooting.
In frantic texts, the teen initially said, "SOMEONE GOT SHOT," before reassuring family members, "I'm okay, everyone is going inside."
Prosecutors argued the texts showed the teen was confused and did not know the full story. That discredited the argument, they said, that she had direct involvement that could improperly influence prosecutorial decision-making.
Judge Tony Graf agreed and made his ruling on Tuesday, February 24.
