A Utah judge found one of the prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk murder case in contempt on Friday for violating a gag order by making comments to the media about the forthcoming murder trial of Tyler Robinson, but he declined to remove the possibility of the death penalty for Robinson.Robinson’s lawyers previously asked Judge Tony Graf to hold Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard in civil contempt for comments he made to media outlets earlier this year, pushing back against claims that an ATF analysis of the bullet used to kill conservative activist Kirk exonerated Robinson. The ATF analysis of the bullet was inconclusive, meaning it did not rule out nor confirm a definitive match to Robinson’s rifle, something Ballard conveyed in his public statements. But Ballard had gone further, stating that prosecutors were confident they would prove Robinson was guilty. Although Graf ruled Friday that the second part of the statements Ballard gave violated a gag order he placed on both sides that generally bars them from discussing the case with the media, he did not take the death penalty off the table, which was the punishment Robinson’s lawyers wanted in response to the prosecutor’s public comments.“Although Rule 3.6C permitted limited statements explaining the ATF report, Mr. Ballard’s additional statements concerning the strength of the state’s evidence and anticipated ability to overcome the presumption of innocence exceeded the scope of that exception and violated the court’s publicity order,” Graf said in his ruling Friday. “Mr. Ballard intentionally and volitionally made these extra judicial statements, fulfilling the required elements of civil contempt.”