The elected Utah County Attorney is defending his decision to keep an office prosecutor on the case against Charlie Kirk’s accused killer, even though the lawyer has a close family member who was at Utah Valley University when Kirk was shot.
Defense attorneys for Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utahn charged with killing Kirk, asked a judge last month to ban the entire county attorney’s office from handling the criminal case. They said one prosecutor’s family member was among the thousands of people who attended the Turning Point USA event in September.
But Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray wrote in a Tuesday response that the prosecutor had no conflict that would require the lawyer — or Gray’s entire team — to be disqualified.
The prosecutor’s loved one, who is a student, did not personally see the shooting, Gray wrote in a Monday court filing. Gray added that the student was not in the line of sight of the gunman, who law enforcement says fired a single bullet from a rooftop.
The student did not feel traumatized by the event, Gray wrote, and they have not missed classes or needed counseling.
“Other than being scared at the time,” he wrote, “[the student] experienced no lasting trauma.”
Robinson’s attorneys argue that a “natural instinct” to protect a relative could affect the prosector’s ability to handle the case ethically.
At times, law offices block attorneys from having access to filings or other contact with cases where they may have a conflict of interest. That has not happened in this case, the defense pointed out — but Gray argues it’s not necessary.
Since the prosecutor’s loved one had a “minor emotional reaction” to the shooting, compared to others who were closer to Kirk and witnessed his death, the lawyer would not be compromised, Gray reasoned.
And, the county attorney added, it’s unlikely this student would be called to testify, since they had the same perspective as “literally thousands of other witnesses.”
The prosecutor disclosed the family relationship to Robinson’s lawyers after speaking to the entire prosecution team about the potential conflict, defense attorneys said. And, the defense alleged in their December request, this prosecutor went back to campus with an investigator to determine the exact distance from where his family member was to where Kirk was when he shot. (It was 85 feet.)
When Robinson’s defense team initially filed its motion to disqualify the Utah County attorney’s office, it filed it under seal — but it later filed a public version which redacted the name of the prosecutor and his relationship to the student.
Gray’s response was initially filed as a public document on Monday evening, and The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a copy through the court’s online system.
The document was labeled as “NON-PUBLIC,” and The Tribune’s attorney alerted the prosecutor’s office Tuesday that the filing was accessible to the public. The filing has since been sealed as a private record.
The Tribune is continuing to follow the redaction of the name of the prosecutor and his relationship to the student.
Robinson is expected to be in court next Friday, where 4th District Court Judge Tony Graf will hear arguments on the request to disqualify Gray’s office.
The Utah man is facing multiple charges, including aggravated murder, in connection with Kirk’s Sept. 10 death. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.