Tyler Robinson, 22, of Utah, is shown in his mugshot on Sept. 12, 2025. The prosecutor in his case was found to be in contempt of court Friday for speaking to the press. UPI | License Photo
The Utah prosecutor in the case against Tyler Robinson for the alleged murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was found in contempt of court Friday for speaking to the media about the case.
Judge Tony Graf didn’t sanction the Utah County Attorney’s Office for the infraction by removing the death penalty in the case, as Robinson’s lawyers had requested.
Robinson, 22, is from Washington, Utah. He is charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, in the September shooting death of Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard gave interviews to TMZ, USA Today, PolitiFact and Fox News about the case. Prosecutors argued that Ballard was correcting misinformation in the media about the case.
Graf said that while Ballard “did not engage with the media out of a malicious desire to flout this court’s authority or to intentionally taint the jury pool,” sharing his opinion on Robinson’s guilt and the strength of the state’s case went too far.
“Those additional public statements possessed a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceedings,” Graf said.
Graf said he would consider addressing any potential prejudice the comments could have on the jury pool during jury selection. He also said the defense will also be allowed to recoup legal fees from the contempt proceedings.
The misinformation was about a finding by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency was “unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson.” But Ballard said he was correcting the press, saying that the agency’s findings were inconclusive. The bullet was also not excluded from the rifle.
Some tabloids had said that the bullet did not come from Robinson’s rifle and said he had been framed, MSNow reported.
