Charlie Kirk murder: Judge to rule on disqualifying prosecutors in the case
A Utah judge is set to decide Tuesday whether to keep prosecutors on the murder case against Tyler Robinson.
State District Judge Tony Graf will decide in a WebEx hearing scheduled for Tuesday 10:30 a.m. local time, whether to disqualify state prosecutors over an alleged conflict of interest.
FOX News reported that Graf is expected to issue an oral ruling followed by a written decision on whether county prosecutors should be disqualified, which could change the course of the trial. Robinson is expected to listen to the hearing from jail.
FILE-Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court on December 11, 2025 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Rick Egan-Pool/Getty Images)
Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder after being accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus on Sept. 10, 2025. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Robinson, who has not yet entered a plea and a trial date is not set.
Robinson's attorneys argue that Chad Grunander, a deputy county attorney working on the case, has a conflict of interest because his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot.
RELATED: Charlie Kirk shooting suspect identified as Tyler Robinson
According to the Associated Press, Grunander’s daughter, whose identity wasn’t released to news media covering the Tyler Robinson case, testified in court that she did not record video of the shooting or the aftermath.
The AP reported that she was looking at the crowd and did not find out until after she ran to safety that it was Kirk who was shot, she shared with the court earlier this month. Full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting have not been shown in court after defense attorneys raised concerns that the footage would undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
What happens if prosecutors are disqualified from the case?
Dig deeper:
If Utah County prosecutors are disqualified, the Tyler Robinson case would possibly shift to prosecutors in a county with the resources to manage a large case, such as Salt Lake County, or potentially the state attorney general’s office, Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church told the Associated Press.
Charlie Kirk shooting
The backstory:
Charlie Kirk was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem when investigators say Robinson, 22, fired a single shot from a building about 140 yards away, striking Kirk, 31, and killing him.
In a January court filing, Robinson’s lawyers claim the video is irrelevant to their motion to have the county prosecutor's office disqualified from overseeing the case and would violate his right to a fair trial.
Prosecutors are expected to lay out their case against Robinson at a preliminary hearing scheduled to begin May 18.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by FOX News, previous FOX Local coverage, and the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.