A Utah judge on Monday denied accused Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson’s request to close portions of a preliminary hearing to the public.During a virtual hearing, Utah District Judge Tony Graf issued two rulings stemming from arguments heard last month in the high-profile murder case, denying the defendant’s efforts to keep further proceedings away from media coverage, while setting up a separate hearing to determine whether prosecutors violated a pretrial publicity order through comments they made to media outlets.Monday’s hearing resolved two disputes ahead of Robinson’s July 6 to 10 preliminary hearing, where prosecutors are expected to present evidence supporting their effort to bring the case to trial. It also set up a June 12 evidentiary hearing focused on Robinson’s claims that prosecutors improperly discussed the case publicly.
Graf denied Robinson’s request to close portions of the July hearing and seal related proceedings from public view. However, the judge noted that the parties had already reached an agreement that neither the public nor the media would be permitted to inspect or copy exhibits introduced during the preliminary hearing unless those exhibits were published in court as part of the proceedings.
