Overview
- District Judge Tony Graf declined to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office on the spot and instead opened an evidentiary hearing to build a record.
- Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray testified that he learned of the shooting from a text sent to a prosecutor by his 18-year-old daughter and said no conflict warranted screening the prosecutor from the case.
- Prosecutors argue the daughter did not witness the shooting and is not a material witness, while the defense says the rapid death-penalty notice reflects emotional bias and wants the state attorney general to handle the conflict issue.
- Gray labeled the defense maneuver an ambush intended to delay proceedings, and the judge allowed testimony to proceed without transferring the matter to another office at this stage.
- The court maintained media limits, restricting images of the defendant’s restraints and close-up filming, and set the next evidentiary session for Feb. 3 with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 18–21.