Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times,
A Utah judge has set jury selection to begin in mid-2028 for Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old accused of fatally shooting conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, 31, in September 2025.
Before announcing his decision on Nov. 9 in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Judge Tony Graf Jr. weighed the arguments of three interested parties: prosecutors, defense lawyers, and attorneys representing Kirk's surviving relatives.
The judge said the mid-2028 date could change depending on check-ins with attorneys to see whether that date remains feasible.
Jury selection is expected to begin on June 21, 2028, the judge said, noting that court officials should plan to contact 3,600 potential jurors.
The judge set aside 105 court days - 21 five-day weeks - for the trial.
The mid-2028 date is later than prosecutors and the victim's representatives had requested but sooner than defense lawyers had sought.
Graf spoke for more than an hour as he detailed the planned pretrial schedule and explained reasons for setting various dates.
An attorney representing Kirk's family said the date Graf set will be nearly three years after Kirk was slain.
"[That] does not feel very 'speedy' to the Kirk family," the attorney said.
However, the attorney said that they had "no choice but obviously to accept the schedule that the court has put forward."
"We only ask that the court hold to the schedule," the attorney said.
Lawyers for Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, called the defense's proposed 2029 timeline "grossly out of line with comparable cases," a court filing states. They requested "the earliest possible date in 2027," which would be that October, the prosecutors' motion states.
The judge said on Nov. 9 that he aimed to "ensure that the constitutional rights of Mr. Robinson and Mrs. Kirk are upheld at every juncture" and that all parties are treated "with the dignity and respect they are due as human beings."
A key consideration involved the fact that one of Robinson's lawyers is committed to a trial in California, the judge said.
Prosecutors said they have already provided Robinson's defense team with all relevant "discovery," or evidence that they currently possess and must disclose by law, a court filing states.
Because of the amount of pre-trial preparation required - and a desire to avoid holiday-season commitments for jurors - prosecutors requested a trial date of January 2028.
The trial, once it begins, could last about 17 weeks, prosecutors said in their filing.
However, defense lawyers sought to push the date until the third quarter of 2029. They argued, in a court filing, that additional time is needed because the death penalty specification adds layers of complexity to the due diligence they must perform to defend their client.
The judge previously found sufficient evidence to support the seven charges that Robinson faces. The most serious charge, aggravated murder, carries a potential death sentence. The other six charges are two counts of obstructing justice, two counts of witness tampering, and a count each of causing serious bodily harm by discharging a firearm and committing violence in the presence of a child.
Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA, a conservative movement for young voters. Prosecutors are alleging that evidence shows that Robinson targeted Kirk over his "political expression."
On Sept. 10, 2025, Kirk was fatally shot as he debated and answered questions from an audience of about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
The judge did set monthly status conferences.
"I want to keep us on track so we make measurable progress," he said.
The first such date is Jan. 14, 2027.