PROVO, Utah (AP) — Prosecutors played a video clip in court Wednesday of suspect Tyler Robinson after he had turned himself in to Utah authorities a day after the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The video showed Robinson standing in a room at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap. There was no audio and it was unclear if he was interviewed by investigators while at the sheriff’s office.
State District Judge Tony Graf will decide at the conclusion of this week’s hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge in Kirk’s fatal shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University in September.
Graf indicated that on Thursday he would allow prosecutors to play redacted audio of statements given to investigators by Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs.
Robinson’s lawyers said they were concerned about his right to a fair trial if the statements were played in open court and then broadcast by media outlets. They said prosecutors would attempt to portray Twigg’s statements as a confession, which could bias potential jurors.
Attorneys for Kirk’s family and the media had urged the judge to make Twigg’s statements and other evidence public.
“To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Graf.
Twiggs was interviewed twice as part of the investigation, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis testified Wednesday. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case, Davis said.
Prosecutors allege Robinson sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
Robinson has not yet entered a plea and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.
DNA analysis described by expert as ‘the gold standard’
Robinson’s lawyers have questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the suspected murder weapon.
A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found at the college campus, where Kirk was shot while speaking to a large crowd.
Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions.
“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt argued.
Forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.
DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science,” said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.
FBI analyst Amanda Bakker said that after Twiggs provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her tests and attribute all of the DNA to two people.
Investigators found the towel and suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.
DNA on the towel matched to two people, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified. One was Twiggs and the other was very likely Robinson, she said.
Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
The defense team pushes back
Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution’s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.
Robinson’s defense team has pushed on the idea that he was hostile to Kirk’s politics. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA.
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.