Charlie Kirk's alleged killer launches extraordinary bid to get prosecution DISQUALIFIED as demand issued in court

The defence team argued that the Utah County Attorney's Office faces a conflict of interest because a child of one of its prosecutors was present at the September 10 shooting.

Robinson stands accused of fatally shooting the Turning Point USA co-founder, who was 31, whilst he addressed a crowd at Utah Valley University.

The state has indicated it will pursue the death penalty should Robinson be found guilty of aggravated murder.

His mother, father and brother were seated in the front row as proceedings commenced.

Prosecutors rejected the attempt to have them removed from the case, characterising it as a tactic designed to delay proceedings.

Defence lawyer Richard Novak countered this assertion, maintaining that until Judge Graf delivers his ruling on the matter, the prosecutor whose child attended the event ought to be taken off the case.

In court filings submitted in December 2025, Robinson's legal team alleged there exists a "concurrent conflict of interest based upon personal connections to a direct witness/victim" connected to the incident.

They contended that both the prosecutor and his son cannot be considered "immune to [the] trauma" resulting from the shooting and its aftermath, potentially influencing decisions made during the prosecution.

Judge Graf has yet to issue a decision on whether local prosecutors will remain on the case.

Should the Utah County Attorney's Office be disqualified from prosecuting the case, responsibility could transfer to another jurisdiction or potentially the state attorney general.

Robinson has not entered a plea to the charges against him.

According to prosecutors, the defendant shot Kirk once in the neck during his campus appearance as attendees watched in horror.

Beyond the aggravated murder charge, Robinson faces additional counts including felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offence in the presence of a child.

Under Utah law, a death sentence would mean Robinson could face execution by firing squad if convicted.

The defence's motion, filed in December 2025, detailed that the prosecutor's family member had been positioned approximately 85 feet from Kirk at the time of the shooting.

Court documents from an October 24 hearing revealed that law enforcement personnel were dispatched to the area specifically to ensure the individual's safety.

The transcript from that earlier hearing was initially placed under seal before being released with redactions the following month, after Judge Graf determined the public had a right to access it.

Prosecutors have pushed back against the conflict allegations, describing the adult child's response as a "comparatively minor emotional reaction" to events.

They further argued that the family member possessed "no personal knowledge of the actual murder" and was merely one among "literally thousands of other witnesses" present that day.

Robinson was taken into custody roughly 33 hours following the shooting, after his father identified him from images that had been circulating online and subsequently alerted authorities.

Investigators have pointed to messages allegedly sent by Robinson to his live-in partner, which purportedly included information about where the bolt-action rifle used in the attack had been concealed.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox previously disclosed a series of inscriptions discovered engraved on the suspect's ammunition casings, which appeared to reference online gaming culture and antifascist ideology.

Among the messages found were lyrics from "Bella ciao," an Italian song historically associated with anti-fascist resistance during the Second World War, alongside what appeared to be video game controller instructions and internet memes.

The cartridges were recovered alongside the weapon allegedly used in the killing.