<p>Tyler Robinson&#8217;s defense team suggested during a Tuesday hearing that the Utah County Attorney&#8217;s Office had only moved to seek the death penalty because it was clear that was what President Donald Trump wanted.</p>
<p>Richard Novak, an attorney for Robinson (who is accused of assassinating the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk), questioned Utah County Attorney Jeffrey S. Gray during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZukNzYKgcYM">pre-trial hearing</a> aimed at having Gray&#8217;s office removed from the case due to a perceived conflict of interest.</p>
<p>At issue was Gray&#8217;s decision to seek the death penalty — and the fact that he announced his plan to do so early in the investigation — a move that Novak attributed to &#8220;strong emotional reactions&#8221; within the prosecutor&#8217;s office.</p>
<p>Novak raised several issues that he argued could have driven such an emotional response from the prosecution: the fact that Gray had campaigned on a promise to seek the death penalty in cases he deemed &#8220;appropriate,&#8221; the fact that the adult child of a prosecutor in Gray&#8217;s office had been present at the time of Kirk&#8217;s assassination, and the knowledge that President Trump had already declared his wish to see Kirk&#8217;s killer face the death penalty.</p>
<p>Gray, under questioning from Novak, said that he&#8217;d become aware at some point that a prosecutor in his office had an adult child who had witnessed the shooting, but that they had not discussed it and it had not been a factor in his decision-making process.</p>
<p>Gray also said in a previous filing that the adult child in question had returned to classes after the shooting and had not experienced lasting trauma outside of being scared in the moment.</p>
<p>&#8220;Under these circumstances, there is virtually no risk, let alone a significant risk, that it would arouse such emotions in any father-prosecutor as to render him unable to fairly prosecute the case,&#8221; Gray said in the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/defendant-in-charlie-kirks-killing-asks-judge-to-disqualify-prosecution-team">filing</a>, arguing that the defense&#8217;s claims were rooted in a desire to delay proceedings rather than to pursue justice.</p>
<p>When Novak asked whether Gray had been aware that Trump had posted about the suspect, &#8220;I hope he gets the death penalty,&#8221; Gray said he knew the president had said that, but that he had not taken Trump&#8217;s social media posts into consideration when determining whether or not to seek capital punishment.</p>
<p>Novak also raised the question of campaign promises, and, noting that Gray had run on a promise to seek the death penalty, wondered whether he&#8217;d simply been in a hurry to check that off his to-do list.</p>
<p>Gray corrected Novak then, saying that he&#8217;d promised to seek the death penalty in cases where it was appropriate to do so — and that both he and Governor Spencer Cox (R) had determined it was appropriate in this case regardless of promises he&#8217;d made during his 2022 campaign.</p>
<p>When given a chance to explain why he&#8217;d announced the decision to seek the death penalty as early as he did — noting that he had until arraignment to do so — Gray said that his goal had been to limit speculation from social media and the press and to lessen the anxiety felt by the victims, specifically, Charlie&#8217;s widow Erika Kirk.</p>
<p>&#8220;The longer you delay that decision … the more delay, then it just creates all this unnecessary speculation and everything else,&#8221; Gray said, adding that he did it to prevent &#8220;unnecessary angst with the families of victims … so Erika Kirk didn’t have to deal with that uncertainty.&#8221;</p>
<p>The defense also petitioned the court to bar all video recordings and still photography in the courtroom during the trial.</p>

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Charlie Kirk’s Suspected Assassin Fights Death Penalty, Says Trump Influenced Prosecutor