PROVO, Utah, June 26, 2026 (UPI) — The Utah prosecutor in the case against Tyler Robinson for the alleged murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was found in contempt of court Friday for speaking to the media about the case.
Judge Tony Graf didn’t sanction the Utah County Attorney’s Office for the infraction by removing the death penalty in the case, as Robinson’s lawyers had requested.
Robinson, 23, is from Washington, Utah. He is charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, in the September shooting death of Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard gave interviews to TMZ, USA Today, PolitiFact and Fox News, where, prosecutors argued, Ballard was correcting alleged media misinformation surrounding the case.
Graf said that while Ballard “did not engage with the media out of a malicious desire to flout this court’s authority or to intentionally taint the jury pool,” sharing his opinion on Robinson’s guilt and the strength of the state’s case went too far.
Robinson, 22, is from Washington, Utah. He is charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, in the September shooting death of Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard gave interviews to TMZ, USA Today, PolitiFact and Fox News about the case. Prosecutors argued that Ballard was correcting misinformation in the media about the case.
Graf said that while Ballard “did not engage with the media out of a malicious desire to flout this court’s authority or to intentionally taint the jury pool,” sharing his opinion on Robinson’s guilt and the strength of the state’s case went too far.
