PROVO, Utah (KUTV) \u2014 Tyler Robinson, the man accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk in September, made an appearance in court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Judge Tony Graf Jr. heard arguments over motions to hold a state prosecutor in contempt over comments made to the media and to block media from portions of a preliminary hearing scheduled in July.<\/p>\n
Richard Novak, an attorney on Robinson\u2019s defense team, argued that the prosecution violated a gag order by discussing an ATF report regarding a ballistics test with national media, including an appearance on Fox and Friends.<\/p>\n
State Attorney Ryan McBride countered, arguing the defense mischaracterized the report and led the media to believe and misreport that the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk did not come from the weapon found on the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, there was a tidal wave of media that mischaracterized the evidence, that misrepresented the evidence, that misled the potential jury pool of what the evidence was,\u201d argued McBride.<\/p>\n
McBride said that the prosecution team had a duty to correct the mischaracterization, which could taint the jury pool, as many media outlets reported that the report may exonerate Robinson.<\/p>\n
MORE | Tyler Robinson<\/p>\n
McBride said they only responded in fact and avoided making any comments that could unfairly suggest Robinson\u2019s guilt – an argument Robinson\u2019s defense team disagreed with. Novak argued the defense motion did not mischaracterize the ATF report and that they were not responsible for how the media misrepresented a report.<\/p>\n
The defense team added that the intense public scrutiny and media inquiries do not give the state the right to violate the court\u2019s gag order on extrajudicial statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis court did not give counsel leave to decide whether extra-judicial statements correcting what counsel has argued are media misinterpretations of pleadings are an appropriate exception,\u201c argued Novak.<\/p>\n
Robinson\u2019s defense team also moved to restrict media access during the preliminary hearing scheduled on July 6-10 where the state will argue it has enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial.<\/p>\n
In their motion, defense attorneys asked to close portions of the preliminary hearing and provide a transcript of the proceedings that accounts for all the information that is not admissible. They raised concerns that evidence presented in the hearing could harm Robinson\u2019s right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n
The state argued it favors public hearings, and confidence in the justice system increases when it can see justice at work. However, state prosecutors argued there is a middle ground, such as rotating monitors to prevent the public from seeing sensitive video.<\/p>\n
Judge Graf said he would weigh the arguments on both motions and make a ruling on the request to close portions of the preliminary hearing on June 1. He set a second hearing on June 12 to rule on the alleged gag order violation.<\/p>\n
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