OAN Staff Sophia Flores
10:22 AM – Tuesday, February 24, 2026
A Utah judge has rejected the defense’s push to remove prosecutors from the case against Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
On Tuesday, following arguments presented during a February 3rd hearing, Judge Tony Graf ruled in favor of the prosecution saying that the court was unpersuaded that a prosecutor’s relationship with his daughter, who attended the event, improperly swayed his decision to seek the death penalty against Robinson.
Defense attorneys argued that because Chad Grunander’s daughter was present at Utah Valley University during the Turning Point USA event when Kirk was fatally shot, the entire Utah County Attorney’s Office should be dismissed from the case. They contended the connection created at least the appearance of impropriety and warranted disqualifying the full office from prosecuting the matter.
The county attorney’s office argued that neither the office, nor deputy attorney has any conflict of interest because AC (the adult child who was at the college event) “did not see Charlie get shot” and “did not see anyone [in the crowd or elsewhere] with a gun. Furthermore, “nearly everything [AC] knows about the actual homicide is hearsay,” according to a document filed by the office.
Robinson’s preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin on May 18th and is expected to last three days. He will not be arraigned until its completion, and he has not entered a plea.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news alerts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Sponsored Content Below
