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In a significant legal battle unfolding in Utah, prosecutors and a diverse alliance of media organizations are challenging efforts by the defense team of Tyler Robinson, who stands accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, to keep court documents under wraps. They argue that there is no valid reason for such secrecy.
The prosecution contends that Robinson’s defense has not adequately demonstrated why these documents should remain confidential, nor have they shown how making them public would compromise Robinson’s right to a fair trial in the high-profile case involving the death of the Turning Point USA founder. They suggest that any concerns about pre-trial publicity impacting fairness should be addressed during jury selection, not through concealing court files.
“Given Defendant’s inadequate justification for restricting access to his motion, and the availability of ‘reasonable ways to ensure a fair trial’ despite pre-trial publicity, the presumption that the public should have access to his motion has not been rebutted,” Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard asserted in a letter to the judge last week.
The incident that sparked this legal clash occurred during a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University in Orem, where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
For the coalition of media outlets, which includes Fox News among other national and local media players, the core constitutional debate centers on balancing the First Amendment rights of the public against Robinson’s right to a fair trial. The media group argues that transparency and open access to court proceedings are essential components of a democratic society.
Lawyers for the media coalition have argued they are being forced to guess what evidence the defense wants excluded, because the underlying motion was filed under seal on Jan. 9. This creates confusion for the public, they warned.
People run after shots were fired during an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Â Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. Â (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
According to defense filings, the public’s right of access is not absolute, while Robinson’s right to a fair trial is. They want their 200-page motion to block news cameras to the courtroom classified, arguing that its undisclosed contents could unfairly prejudice the jury pool against their client.
“My take is that the defendant’s efforts to keep things under wraps is doomed,” said Royal Oakes, a media attorney and legal analyst who successfully convinced a California judge to televise the OJ Simpson murder trial in the 1990s. “Not every document, snippet of testimony, or fact is automatically open to the public and press simply because it relates to a legal proceeding — but nearly everything is.”
Tyler Robinson, accused of the murder of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Thursday, December, 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)
The Supreme Court has found “pretrial publicity, even if pervasive and concentrated, cannot be regarded as leading automatically and in every kind of criminal case to an unfair trial,” according to a filing from the prosecution.
“Any paperwork submitted by one of the parties supporting or opposing the sealing of documents, or the closing of court proceedings, or the approval or disapproval of cameras should absolutely be public documents,” Oakes told Fox News Digital. “Transparency not only encourages people to do the right thing, it lets the public and the press push back if secrecy is unwarranted.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk speaks during Turning Point Action’s The Believers Summit 2024 ahead of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s presentation, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)
Robinson’s defense has also taken issue with closeup video of his face, which they claimed was abused by “lip readers” to distort courtroom conversations, and is accusing the media of trying to “turn a profit at the expense of allowing this case to proceed as the Constitution requires—both public and fair.”
UVU students pause to reflect as they gaze over the spot where Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Orem, Utah, Wednesday, September 17, 2025. The college campus reopened today and classes resumed after being closed for a week. (Matthew Finn/Fox News)
“The News Media uses their platforms to, for example, call for Mr. Robinson’s death, to have ‘body language experts’ make irrelevant and entirely unscientific claims about Mr. Robinson’s character, and to transmit video worldwide that is in clear violation of the Court’s orders,” the defense argued.
The media coalition pushed back hard against those claims, arguing the defense is misapplying outdated law. At least one of their arguments relies on a precedent that was effectively overruled, decades ago, by the Supreme Court, according to a filing from media lawyers.
The scene after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Â Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. Â (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
“The seven-to-one reversal of the closure order in Richmond Newspapers, relying entirely upon the First Amendment, represented an extraordinary reevaluation by, and realignment of, the Court on the issue of access,” media attorneys wrote. “As a result, ‘Gannett was effectively overruled within a year of its release.’”
Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Kirk from a rooftop during a public speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, back in September. According to previously released court filings from the prosecution, Robinson is believed to have spent about a week planning the murder and allegedly confessed to his lover, friends and his family.
New security measures have been added to the area where the alleged assassin shot and killed Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Stepheny Price/Fox News Digital)
A text message exchange that prosecutors allege took place between Robinson and Lance Twiggs, the lover and roommate who is cooperating with investigators contains what appears to be an explicit confession:
“You weren’t the one who did it right????” Twiggs wrote.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly replied.
Defense attorneys have not addressed the alleged exchange or responded to a number of Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Charlie Kirk speaks before he is assassinated during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
He has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors have not yet convinced the court of probable cause due to repeated postponements of his preliminary hearing and arraignment.
Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of the top charge against him, aggravated murder.
Separately, the defense is vying to have prosecutors kicked off the case over a purported conflict of interest. One of the deputy Utah County attorneys on the case had an adult child who was in the crowd at UVU during Kirk’s murder.
Prosecutors have denied a conflict. Robinson is due back in court Tuesday afternoon for a continuation of a hearing on the matter. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray will return to the witness stand.