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A Utah judge has held a prosecutor in contempt for public comments about the defendant's guilt in the murder case of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but declined to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence. Judge Tony Graf ruled that Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard violated a pretrial publicity order by stating that prosecutors had 'ample evidence' to prove Tyler Robinson's guilt.
Ballard's comments to media outlets followed a defense filing that revealed inconclusive ballistics tests. While Ballard sought to correct what he called misinformation about the bullet evidence, the judge determined that his additional statements about the strength of the case crossed the line. 'Those additional public statements possessed a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceedings,' Graf said Source: CNN. The judge specifically noted that comments about the ballistics themselves did not violate the order Source: Al Jazeera.
The defense had asked that the death penalty be taken off the table as a sanction, but Graf declined, calling such a step 'grossly disproportionate' to the misconduct Source: AP. Instead, he said potential bias can be addressed during jury selection, and he granted the defense the ability to recoup legal fees related to the contempt proceedings. Ballard argued he had a right to correct the record, while the defense accused him of a 'media tour' to influence jurors.
“But Graf denied a defense request to take the death penalty off the table as a sanction for the violation. He said the problem could instead be resolved through the screening and questioning process for potential jurors.”
“Those additional public statements possessed a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceedings by communicating the prosecutor’s assessment of the defendant’s guilt.”
“Legal experts had said blocking the death penalty would have been an extreme remedy. Graf said it would have been 'grossly disproportionate' to the misconduct.”