PROVO ā Attorneys were set to argue Friday whether the Utah County Attorney’s Office has a conflict of interest and should be disqualified from prosecuting Tyler Robinson’s capital murder case.
But at the start of the hearing, defense attorney Richard Novak asked to delay the arguments, claiming the county attorney’s office should not be representing itself in responding to the claim that it has a conflict of interest. He said the defense was prepared for the hearing, but said it was “improvident” and wanted the judge to ask the Utah Attorney General’s Office to step in concerning the defense’s motion.
Robinson, 22, is charged with shooting and killing Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. The high-interest case has prompted additional courthouse security with SWAT officers joining Utah County sheriff’s deputies at the hearing.
Robinson and his attorneys asked for the disqualification in a December motion, claiming the office has an emotional bias because the adult child of one of its prosecutors witnessed Kirk’s shooting. The motion says the family member ā an 18-year-old Utah Valley University student ā immediately sent texts to their father when it happened.
The defense argues in the motion the state could be making decisions ā including the decision to seek the death penalty announced the same day the charges were filed ā based on emotions due to the trauma the prosecutor’s adult child incurred that day.
Novak said he was surprised to see that the Utah County Attorney’s Office had responded to the motion and had expected a response from the attorney general’s office. He said now the Utah County Attorney’s Office is attempting to represent Utah’s interests as well as its own.
“We’re very concerned that we’re getting off on the wrong foot,” he said.
Watch Friday’s court hearing here:
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray responded to Novak’s argument Friday, calling it an “ambush” and “another stalling tactic to delay these proceedings.” He said he is an elected official and represents the state.
“I’m not sure why this is coming before us today. If it was such a surprise to them more than a week ago, I don’t know why they wouldn’t at least notify the court,” he said.
Deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride said that the county prosecutors should have jurisdiction until a conflict of interest has been established ā which hasn’t happened. He said the request to refer the dispute to another office assumes that there is a conflict. He said a delay in the hearing adds anxiety for the people who have been subpoenaed as witnesses, including multiple prosecutors and the family member who was there.
“We don’t need to delay this proceeding any further,” he said.
In response to questions about why he did not bring the issue up sooner, Novak said the defense only recently learned the Utah Attorneys General Office was not consulted.
The UVU student who was present at the shooting described scanning the crowd and not watching Kirk when the shot was fired. The student has not had lasting trauma from the event, needed counseling or missed classes or work since the shooting.
“The only time I have seen the actual shooting of Charlie Kirk was when I saw a post on social media that recorded it,” the student’s affidavit states. The redacted public versions of the motions do not identify the prosecuting attorney or his adult child.
The Utah County Attorney’s Office said in its reply that Gray’s decision to seek the death penalty had nothing to do with that family member’s presence at the event.
In addition to capital murder, Robinson is charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, a first-degree felony; two counts of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony; two counts of tampering with a witness, a third-degree felony; and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, a class A misdemeanor.
This story will be updated.
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