Overview
- Defense attorneys pressed to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office, citing a conflict because Chief Deputy Chad Grunander’s 18-year-old daughter was at the event where Charlie Kirk was shot.
- Grunander and County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified that the daughter’s presence did not influence charging decisions or the early move to seek the death penalty.
- Part of the daughter’s testimony was closed to shield her identity, and she stated she did not witness the shooting or suffer lasting trauma.
- The judge relocated cameras to the back of the courtroom after defense objections to close-up images, and full viral videos of the killing were not played; Erika Kirk urged the court to keep proceedings open to the public.
- Prosecutors highlighted evidence including DNA linking Tyler Robinson to a recovered firearm and reported texts suggesting he targeted Kirk, with a preliminary hearing set to begin May 18 and no plea entered yet.