Judge rejects Charlie Kirk family's push for public access to hidden evidence
WASHINGTON, DC: Judge Tony Graf denied a request from Erika Kirk's lawyer on Wednesday, July 8, seeking to have all evidence in the preliminary hearing presented in open court.
Charlie Kirk's widow and parents say they were prevented from viewing evidence during the accused assassin's preliminary hearing.
Court adopts tiered evidence display process
The judge said that the court has considered the request that exhibits be displayed in real time to the courtroom.
“After careful consideration, the court determines that not all exhibits will be visually displayed to the gallery and notes that it will use a tiered method: first, whether it will be admitted to the court for consideration as it relates to probable cause,” Judge Tony Graf observed.
“Second, whether it will be displayed only to the gallery, and third, if it will be published through the camera, to the public at large,” he added.
Erika Kirk requests real-time exhibit access in court
In a new court filing, Kirk's family argued that victims have a legal right to attend criminal proceedings and view the evidence presented in open court.
In a supplemental notice filed on Wednesday, Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, asked a Utah judge to require that all evidence admitted during the remainder of Robinson's preliminary hearing be displayed in real time for everyone lawfully present in the courtroom.
The filing also asks the court to republish exhibits admitted during the first three days of the hearing that were not shown publicly.
"The victim's family's position is simple. At a minimum, every exhibit entered into evidence during the preliminary hearing must be visible to every person lawfully present in the courtroom," the court filing read.
"To receive evidence in a manner shielded from those seated in the courtroom – as happened today – is not transparency," it continued.
"And in the absence of transparency, speculation and conspiracy theories related to the tragic assassination of Mr Kirk will continue to proliferate in the public domain, breeding doubt and distrust in the judicial system. This is not what anyone should want," it read.
Roommate recalls Tyler Robinson's bullet engraving request
Tyler Robinson's ex-roommate, Lance Twiggs, told authorities that the Charlie Kirk assassination suspect began "engraving bullets" around a month before the alleged shooting.
"I don't remember exactly when, but he had said he was planning to go hunting with his family. And he asked me ... if we had, like, a Dremel to it because he said he wanted to create messages on bullets,” Twiggs said.
