A Utah judge in the case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk ruled Friday to hold a prosecutor in civil contempt for violating a pretrial publicity order but opted to leave the death penalty in place as a possible outcome in his murder trial.
The defense’s contempt motion stemmed from comments prosecutor Christopher Ballard, also a spokesperson for the Utah County Attorney’s Office, made to several media outlets this spring about an inconclusive ballistics report mentioned in a defense filing.
While attempting to clarify the results of the report to the media, Ballard also included comments referencing the strength of the state’s case against Robinson.
“Those additional public statements possessed a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceedings by communicating the prosecutor’s assessment of the defendant’s guilt,” Judge Tony Graf said while issuing his ruling Friday.
Still, Graf stopped short of granting a defense request that he prohibit the state from seeking the death penalty should Robinson be convicted.
