Judge Declines to Disqualify Prosecutors in Kirk Killing

A Utah judge on Tuesday declined to disqualify the local county attorney's office from prosecuting the accused shooter in Charlie Kirk's killing after the defense argued there was a conflict of interest because a prosecutor's daughter was present when Kirk was shot. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

Robinson's attorneys urged the judge to remove the Utah County Attorney's Office because they allowed a deputy county attorney to work on the case despite knowing that his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot, the AP reports. The defense also argued in court documents that prosecutors were quick to announce their intent to seek the death penalty, which they said was evidence of "strong emotional reactions" that merited disqualifying the entire team.

• State District Judge Tony Graf ruled Tuesday that there is "not a significant risk" that Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander's loyalty to his daughter will affect his work or interfere with Robinson's rights. "Prosecutors need not be immune to the emotional response of others to prosecute a case," Graf said.

• An estimated 3,000 people were at the outdoor rally to hear Kirk when he was struck while taking questions. A co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk helped mobilize young people to vote for President Trump. Grunander's daughter, whose identity has not been disclosed to news media covering the case, testified in court that she did not record video of the shooting or the aftermath. She was looking at the crowd and did not learn until after she ran to safety that it was Kirk who had been shot, she told the court earlier this month.
• Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified this month that he thought about seeking the death penalty before an arrest had been made in the case, and his colleague's daughter in no way influenced the decision. Graf found that the daughter's presence did not factor into Gray's decision.
• The director of a state council that trains prosecutors said Graf's ruling was appropriate given the circumstances. "Chad Grunander's daughter is not going to be a witness. She didn't actually see Mr. Kirk killed. She was facing away," Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church said.