Lawyers for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, argued during a hearing on Friday that cameras should be barred from the courtroom for the upcoming murder trial, pointing to negative pretrial coverage of their client.
Robinson’s lawyers brought two witnesses to the stand to support their assertion that having cameras in the courtroom would violate his right to a fair trial. Most of the questioning came when Dr. Brian Edelman, a trial consultant brought as a witness for Robinson’s lawyers, was on the stand, with him testifying that cameras in the courtroom and media reports ahead of the trial have been prejudicial toward Robinson.
“It creates sensational, misleading media coverage that undermines the defendant’s fair trial rights,” Edelman said regarding cameras in the courtroom.
Robinson’s lawyers played various video clips of media coverage of the case to date, seeking to highlight how Robinson has been portrayed in a negative light by reporters and media personalities. The defense also took issue with media coverage that included information about the case that was not entered into the record.
Utah prosecutors questioned Edelman on cross-examination by pointing out negative media coverage of Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk, along with conspiratorial theories about the killing of the conservative activist last year. One of the prosecutors directly asked Edelman what the risk of having cameras in the courtroom is.
“What is the risk of inundating the jury pool with highly prejudicial, sensational media coverage that characterizes the defendant as guilty, a monster, a psychopath, a sociopath and so on? What’s the risk of that? I think it undermines that juror’s fair trial rights,” Edelman said.
“And I think there’s plenty of case law where it’s where even when juries have been set and they’ve served and there’s been a conviction, those have been overturned based off of the pre-trial publicity,” he added.
State prosecutors argued that cameras should be allowed to support an “open and transparent” trial to ensure “the public will trust the process,” expressing concern over the mounting conspiracy theories surrounding the case.
The motion by Robinson’s lawyers to ban cameras from the court is the latest pretrial motion they have filed to the court, after Judge Tony Graf previously rejected a motion to disqualify state prosecutors over an alleged conflict of interest.
Graf did not come to a decision on the motion to exclude cameras from the trial, and said he would issue a ruling on the request in the coming weeks. Graf said he would balance the rights of public access to the hearing when considering the motion.
PARENTS AND BOYFRIEND OF TYLER ROBINSON TO TESTIFY FOR PROSECUTION IN CHARLIE KIRK MURDER TRIAL
During the upcoming trial, Robinson will face multiple charges for his alleged assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in September. The maximum punishment for the charges against Robinson includes the death penalty.
Robinson’s trial is expected to be one of the most closely watched cases of 2026, after the public killing of Kirk sent shockwaves through politics last year. Authorities say Robinson had claimed Kirk spread “too much hate” and that his family said Robinson had espoused increasingly left-wing views, including on transgender matters, in recent years.