State of the Evidence
Where the case stands
The prosecution's probable-cause pillars, tracked across the hearing. State = what's been put on so far; Open question = the caveat, or the defense's strongest line against it. This is a probable-cause posture, not a verdict — a low bar the State is widely expected to clear.
Robinson placed on campus by video across four visits on Sept. 10 — onto the Losee roof, prone in line with the tent, the shot at 11:23:28, then off the northeast corner carrying a long object. In-court ID by Hull, "for this hearing only."
Open questionThe roof video alone shows no face or clothing; the name came only from the surrender, not the investigation; the object is never confirmed as a gun on video; the in-court ID drew a suggestiveness objection.
Bagley, Hull · Ex. 11.4 / 11.1
"Very strong support for inclusion" for Robinson on both the towel (~1.7 octillion×) and the screwdriver (~30 quintillion×).
Open questionRoommate Twiggs called a contributor on a likelihood ratio of 1 ("uninformative"); contributor count revised 3→2; towel found in a bush, not a home; same-length "isoallele" sequences unresolved; items 1–6 consumed with no DNA and no retest.
Faumuina, Baker · Ex. 30.1
Mauser Model 98, .30-06, bolt-action, towel-wrapped, recovered Sept. 10 in the wooded area Robinson entered; sent to the ATF lab.
Open questionNo ballistics match presented yet; a prior defense filing cited an "inconclusive" ATF bullet-fragment comparison to the rifle. And a live, unfired .223 round — a different caliber — was recovered from the Computer Science building roof, which had no line of sight to Kirk's tent.
Faumuina, Hull
Twiggs's recorded statement (Ex. 16) is now admitted in full for the court (two passages kept off-air); Mitchell's written statement (Ex. 14) is admitted, unpublished. The State says the note, the text messages, and the Discord thread — the statements it will call Robinson's confession — are coming.
Open questionWhether that confession material can be broadcast is itself contested: Novak invokes Estes v. Texas (14th Amendment) to bar televising a "confession" pretrial. A defense bench memo is due, and the fight lands Thursday. Content largely not yet public.
Davis · Ex. 14, 16
Gunshot wound of the neck; manner homicide (Ex. 11 — admitted, not broadcast).
Open questionIn only through Hull secondhand — he wasn't present at the autopsy, and the medical examiner did not testify.
Hull · Ex. 11
Robinson surrendered voluntarily the evening of Sept. 11, arriving at the Washington County SO ~9 p.m. with his parents and a family friend, Mike Mitchell (per the defense, a former Boy Scout leader), who helped facilitate it. Arrested early Sept. 12 after simultaneous family interviews; booked in Utah County ~8 a.m.
Open questionCuts for the defense: Hull conceded that until the surrender, "we did not specifically know who the shooter was" — the ID followed the surrender, not the reverse.
Hull, Davis · Ex. 15
To make the shooting death-eligible, the State must show Robinson targeted Kirk over his political expression (Utah Code 76-3-203.14). The Engelhardt statement (Ex. 5.1) is provisionally admitted, unpublished.
Open questionThe defense says 5.1 says nothing about Robinson's state of mind and risks recasting a political-expression case as one "about religion" (Matthew 19, subsection (m) vs. (k)). The State still needs independent evidence of motive.
McBride / Novak · Ex. 5.1
Day 1 · Monday, July 6, 2026
What happened
The State opened its probable-cause case with two witnesses and roughly forty exhibits. Judge Graf set a three-tier framework for every exhibit — admission, then publication to the gallery, then publication in a form the courtroom camera can capture — and required the defense to object to each tier separately.
Former UVU officer Christopher Bagley laid the campus geography and testified to hearing a single shot at 11:23, seeing Kirk fall left, and — after a suspect was in custody within ~30 seconds — climbing to the roof of the Losee Center, where he found a screwdriver and a gravel disturbance he read as a prone "sniper" position. On cross, Nester drew out that there was no security briefing, six officers covered thousands of attendees, the pistol holster he saw was never collected, and his body camera died on the roof.
SBI/DPS agent David Hull, the lead case agent, testified to the identification effort: hundreds of hours of video, a series of witness videos authenticated via written "reliable hearsay" statements, the medical examiner's finding (gunshot wound of the neck; homicide), and — after Washington County relayed that Robinson wanted to surrender the evening of Sept. 11 — a records workup yielding a silver Dodge Challenger and four campus visits on Sept. 10. Graf sustained the defense objection to the State's edited (zoomed/blurred/circled) surveillance compilation; the State said it would return Day 2 with an unaltered version. Hull was held over on the stand.
Index
Witnesses
Order of appearance, Day 1. Expand for a topic map of each examination.
1 · Officer Christopher Bagley Former UVU PD (now Spanish Fork PD) · Direct: Grunander · Cross: Nester · Redirect: Grunander
Background
- ~6 years an officer; ~5 years at UVU PD (prior: Utah County Sheriff, Springville PD, Tooele County). Prior SWAT, K-9, motors. Worked the Kirk event on an overtime shift; checked in ~11:00 a.m.
Direct — the shooting & the roof
- Assigned to secure the south end of the Hall of Flags walkway above Kirk's tent.
- Heard a single shot at 11:23; saw the right side of Kirk's body, then Kirk "went to the left." Estimated ~7,000 present.
- A suspect was reported in custody within ~30 seconds, near Kirk in the courtyard.
- Found an empty concealed pistol holster on the grass; realized the report sounded like a rifle, from the east — the Losee Center had a direct line of sight.
- On the Losee roof (~11:44): found a red-and-black screwdriver (untouched) and a gravel disturbance he described as a prone "sniper pad" in line with Kirk's tent. Secured the roof and the NE drop-off (shoe impression in grass) with tape.
Cross (Nester)
- No security briefing, tactical, or operational plan; ~15 UVU officers total, six assigned to the event, plus Kirk's private security.
- Gun-free campus; saw no armed civilians except one of Kirk's security team. Drones arrived after the shooting (Sgt. Nilsson, Provo PD).
- The pistol holster was never taken into custody or fingerprinted to his knowledge.
- A plainclothes man with an apparent handgun accompanied him up to the Losee roof — agency unknown.
- Never reviewed video for the gap between the rooftop figure leaving and his own arrival. Body cam (~27:35) died on the roof before he taped it off.
- Report did not state a direction for the shot or name the Losee building; described the object in the shooter's hand as a long/rifle-like object, later associated with a towel-wrapped item — did not write "gun."
2 · Agent David Hull Utah SBI / DPS, Major Crimes — lead case agent (with Agent Brian Davis) · Direct: Sterk [?] · held over to Day 2
Background & role
- ~7+ years SBI; ~40 homicide investigations. Dispatched to assist, then made co-lead with Agent Brian Davis. Assigned the team: Faumuina (crime lab / scenes), Sgt. Barker [?] (UVU surveillance), Sgt. Clark (area canvass), L. Shots (information flow).
- Stated priority: identify the individual seen on the roof.
Video & witness statements
- Hundreds of hours reviewed; personally ~20 hrs initially, later ~16 hrs of the person/vehicle he identifies as Robinson on UVU footage.
- Authenticated third-party videos via written Rule 1102 statements: Amber Wright (E6/6.1), a minor, Phillips (E7/7.1, mother co-signed), Toe Farnsworth of Visual Impulse / TPUSA videographer (E8/8.1), Curtis Olsen of UVU (E9/11.3), and Mrs. Noble — Ring doorbell (E13, E11.2).
Autopsy
- ME's office autopsied Kirk late Sept. 10 into Sept. 11. Cause of death: gunshot wound of the neck; manner: homicide. ME investigator identified as "Officer Bullock." (Report = Exhibit 11.)
Identifying Robinson
- Evening of Sept. 11: Washington County relayed that an individual — Tyler Robinson — wanted to turn himself in. Records workup (CIAG): photo, address, DOB, and a silver Dodge Challenger registered to Robinson and his mother.
- Tracked four campus visits on Sept. 10 (twice before the shooting, at the shooting, and after into early Sept. 11).
- Ring doorbell at 680 W 925 S showed the vehicle parking ~00:30:08 on the morning of the 11th.
- Made an in-court identification of Robinson (over objection; see Rulings).
Ledger
Exhibit Log — Day 1
Every exhibit offered Day 1, with the defense's objection basis and the court's disposition. Status chips: ADMITTEDNOT ADMITTEDPUBLISHED · COURTPUBLISHED · MEDIAPLAYED · SCREENS ONLYNOT BROADCAST
| Ex. | Item | Objection → Ruling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photo of courtyard/amphitheater, facing NE (via Bagley)Hall of Flags, Sorenson, Woodbury, Fulton, Losee visible | Foundation (who/when took it) → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 2 | Photo from east side looking west across campus | Standing obj. + foundation/time → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 3 | Drone photo of courtyard looking eastward | Foundation → Overruled State v. Purcell, 711 P.2d 243 | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 35 | Aerial view of campus + NE neighborhood (street grid, "horseshoe") | Timing/foundation → Overruled State v. Weger, 372 P.3d 91 | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 3.1 | Red-and-black screwdriver on Losee rooftop | Foundation → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 3.2 | Top of Losee looking west (evidence tag #2 present) | Foundation / tag not present when observed → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 4 | Nighttime photo, gravel disturbance, w/ markersTaken by Melissa Richards, forensic lead — not present | Hearsay (Richards absent) → Overruled Rule 1102; hearsay OK to lay foundation | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 5 | Nighttime side profile, measuring tape + markers, facing south (Richards) | Same as E4 → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
| 6.1 | Rule 1102 written statement — Amber Wright (cellphone video) | Hearsay + Confrontation + UCJA 4-202.02 → Overruled redacted; Rule 1102, Art. I §11 | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 6 | Amber Wright cellphone videoCrowd + start of Kirk's remarks; does NOT show the shooting | Authentication + victim-privacy → Admitted; played in court but not broadcast (minor faces not all obscured) | ADMITTEDCOURTNOT BROADCAST |
| 7.1 | Rule 1102 statement — Phillips (minor; mother co-signed) | Hearsay + minor/victim protection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 7 | Phillips video — graphic; depicts the moment Kirk was shot | Authentication + more prejudicial than probative → Admitted; not published | ADMITTEDSCREENS ONLYNOT BROADCAST |
| 8.1 | Rule 1102 statement — Toe Farnsworth, Visual Impulse (TPUSA videographer) | Hearsay + authentication (clips edited by unknown) → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 8 | Visual Impulse video — from stage into crowd; graphic; moment of shooting; Kirk tossing hats | Authentication → Admitted; not published Art. I §28 (victim dignity) | ADMITTEDSCREENS ONLYNOT BROADCAST |
| 11.3 | Rule 1102 statement — Curtis Olsen, UVU (dir. of infrastructure / surveillance system) | Hearsay → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 9 | Hall of Flags "breezeway" video (~3 min)Behind stage; shows Kirk carried away / "hasty transport" | Graphic/sensitive → Admitted; not published Art. I §28 | ADMITTEDSCREENS ONLYNOT BROADCAST |
| 11 | Medical Examiner autopsy report (9 pp.), Dr. [name] [?]Cause: gunshot wound of the neck · Manner: homicide | Hearsay + best-evidence + Confrontation → Overruled Rule 1102(b)(5) medical/autopsy records; Art. I §11. Best-evidence obj. sustained as to State's "murder" mischaracterization — corrected to "homicide." | ADMITTEDNOT BROADCAST |
| 13 | Rule 1102 statement — Mrs. Noble (Ring doorbell, 680 W 925 S) | Hearsay + dual-author foundation → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 11.1 | Surveillance compilation — Robinson's campus movementsProduced by County Attorney's office WITH zooms, blurs, red circles | Authentication — altered by non-testifying person; prejudice → SUSTAINED. State to bring an unaltered version Day 2. | NOT ADMITTED |
| 11.2 | Ring doorbell compilation — 4 clips (vehicle arrives/parks; person exits; returns; drives off), ~00:30:08 | Authentication (compilation) → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
Note on numbering: the State used a parent/child scheme (e.g., 11, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3) grouping a source's video, sub-clips, and 1102 statement. "35" appears out of sequence in the source audio and may be a mis-hearing of a sub-numbered exhibit; flagged for verification against the official exhibit list.
Bench
Rulings & Legal Framework — Day 1
The load-bearing rulings, with the authority Graf relied on. These recur across the week, so they anchor the whole record.
Reliable hearsay is admissible at the preliminary hearing
Graf's throughline: at a probable-cause hearing the State may rely on reliable hearsay, so written witness statements and third-party media come in without the declarant present. This carried every 1102 statement (E6.1, 7.1, 8.1, 11.3, 13) and the autopsy report.
Utah Const. art. I §11 · Utah R. Evid. 1101(c), 1102 (incl. (b)(3), (b)(5) medical/autopsy, (b)(8))
Three-tier publication framework
Graf required objections to specify which tier they targeted: (1) admission of the exhibit; (2) publication to the gallery; (3) publication in a form the courtroom camera could capture. Absent a specific objection to a tier, he presumed none. Graphic exhibits (E7, E8, E9, E11) were admitted and shown to the court on protected screens but not broadcast, citing victim dignity.
Utah Const. art. I §28(1)(a) — victims' right to fairness, respect, dignity
Photo authentication without the photographer
A competent witness with personal knowledge of the scene may authenticate a photograph as a fair and accurate depiction; the person who took it need not testify. Applied to overrule the defense's foundation objections to the campus/scene photos.
State v. Purcell, 711 P.2d 243, 245 · State v. Weger, 372 P.3d 91 · State v. Griffin, 384 P.3d 186
Altered surveillance compilation excluded (E11.1)
Graf sustained the defense objection: the compilation had been zoomed, blurred, and circled by an unidentified person in the County Attorney's office who was not present and not covered by any 1102 statement. He held that alterations by a non-testifying person fall outside the reliable-hearsay foundation, even if "minor," and left it to the State to reoffer an unaltered version.
Best-evidence correction on the autopsy (E11)
When the State's witness characterized the manner of death as "murder," the defense's best-evidence objection was sustained; on reviewing page one, the witness corrected it to the report's actual term, homicide, with cause "gunshot wound of the neck."
In-court identification of Robinson — allowed "for purposes of this hearing only"
The defense objected that asking Hull to identify the only man seated at the defense table was unduly suggestive and a 14th Amendment due-process violation that could taint later identifications. After a bench conference, Graf found the identification made for the preliminary hearing only; late in the day Hull described Robinson in a gray suit jacket for the record.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV (due process)
UCJA 4-202.02 distinguished (records vs. in-court exhibits)
The defense repeatedly invoked the judicial-administration rule classifying certain victim images as private court records. Media counsel David Reymann argued — and Graf effectively accepted — that the rule governs classification of records in the court file, not exhibits the court relies on in open court, where the public has a qualified right of access to see what the judge sees.
Procedural
Media's motion to use portable electronic devices: denied for media generally, granted for media counsel. Exclusionary rule invoked by the defense; agents Davis and Hull permitted to remain by stipulation. Hull kept under the rule (no discussing testimony) while held over to Day 2.
Record
Cleaned Transcript — Day 1
Expand all · Collapse all — repetitive exhibit-admission colloquies are captured in the Exhibit Log and marked inline.
Opening — protocol, appearances, camera, publication framework
Bagley — Direct (Grunander): campus geography & the exhibits
Bagley — Direct: the shooting, the holster, the Losee roof
Bagley — Cross (Nester): no briefing, the holster, the body cam
Hull — Direct (Sterk [?]): role, the identification effort, witness videos
Hull — the autopsy report (Exhibit 11): "homicide," not "murder"
Hull — hundreds of hours of video; the surrender; the Challenger; four campus visits
Hull — in-court identification; held over to Day 2
Day 2 · Tuesday, July 7, 2026
What happened
Two fights dominated Day 2: the surveillance video and the DNA. On the video, the State returned with an unaltered compilation (Ex. 11.4) to cure the exclusion of its zoomed/blurred/circled version (Ex. 11.1). Graf admitted 11.4 and — over a fair-trial objection — allowed it broadcast, distinguishing it from the graphic exhibits: it merely shows the defendant walking the campus. Playing it, Hull narrated Robinson's four visits on Sept. 10, culminating in the figure rolling onto the Losee roof, going prone, the shot at 11:23:28, and the jump off the northeast corner carrying a long object. 11.1 (enhanced) was then admitted but not published — Rule 403, cumulative.
On cross, Nester pressed Hull hard: the roof video alone couldn't identify anyone; a person was in custody within seconds and later cleared; a handgun turned up in a backpack; an off-duty trooper (Gonzales) reported a gun in the holster; and — the throughline — until Robinson voluntarily surrendered the evening of Sept. 11, "we did not specifically know who the shooter was." A family-connected intermediary (Nester: a former Boy Scout leader) facilitated the surrender.
Then the forensics: Sgt. Faumuina traced the screwdriver and a Mauser .30-06 (towel-wrapped, in the woods) to the labs, and the FBI DNA report (Ex. 30.1) put Robinson and roommate Lance Twiggs as likely contributors on both. The defense then called FBI analyst Amanda Baker out of order and drew real blood on cross: the number of contributors on one sample had been revised from three to two; STRmix returned a likelihood ratio of exactly 1 ("uninformative") for Twiggs, yet Baker still called him a contributor via "assumed contributor"/elimination reasoning grounded in the investigators' belief the items came from Robinson's home — though the towel was found in a bush at UVU; her length-based test can't resolve same-length "isoallele" sequence differences at 5–6 loci; and several swabs were consumed outright (items 1–6 yielded no DNA and can't be retested; a stairwell sample was a >5-person mixture). On cross, McBride rehabilitated: accreditation, validation across 120+ labs, proficiency testing, and — for Robinson specifically — "very strong support for inclusion" on both items (~1.7 octillion and ~30 quintillion). Separately, Graf provisionally admitted the Engelhardt statement (Ex. 5.1) on the religion-vs-political-expression question, unpublished. Court adjourned to Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. (no morning session).
Index
Witnesses — Day 2
Hull continued from Day 1; Faumuina and Baker were taken partly out of order to accommodate scheduling.
2 · Agent David Hull (continued)SBI/DPS (left for Utah POST in March 2026) · Direct: Sterk [?] · Cross: Nester · Redirect: Sterk · excused
Direct — the unaltered compilation (Ex. 11.4) & the four visits
- Visit 1 (~8:30 a.m.): silver Challenger into the parking structure; driver in a maroon/dark tee, shorts, exits on foot to the courtyard, contacts TPUSA reps, returns to the car ~9:25 a.m., drives off.
- Visit 2 (~just after 10 a.m.): returns on foot from the NE neighborhood with a blue backpack; buys food at the Chick-fil-A in the Sorenson Center; crosses into the wooded area NE of campus drive; returns without the backpack; moves to the railing giving roof access to the Losee, then back down and off campus ~just before 11.
- Visit 3: returns on foot, different clothing, walking with a limp; up the parking-structure stairs; south past the front of the Losee.
- Visit 4 (~11:15): onto the Losee exterior staircase; rolls over the railing onto the roof; runs to the SW corner; crouches, crawls, goes prone in line with Kirk's tent. Shot at 11:23:28. Stands, moves north behind the atrium to the NE corner, jumps off onto the grass carrying an object (~11:24:42), crosses campus drive, drops into the woods.
- Officer Goforth [?] (Spanish Fork PD, security detail) contacted the vehicle at campus drive/800 South, noted the partial plate on "cop intuition," later ran it — registered to Tyler and Amber Robinson — and recalled contact with a male he believed to be Robinson. Source date garbled (says "the 11th"); sequence places this ~11:30 a.m. Sept. 10.
Cross (Nester)
- Arrived ~1:30 p.m. (≈1 hr after Kirk was removed); became lead ~2:30. A bullet on another building was accounted for as an officer's ejected round. A person was in custody early — later cleared; others detained and cleared. A handgun was found in a backpack; off-duty trooper Noah Gonzales reported a gun in the holster (Ex. Hull-13, Davis's report).
- The roof video alone was not distinguishable — no face/clothing; only the stairwell/parking-garage images were released. Two young men gave video of a figure on the roof ~10 sec before the shot, describing it as "overwatch."
- The object crossing campus drive was concealed/in a bag, long, "could be a firearm" — no gun visible; no passerby reported an armed man.
- The surrender: word came from the Washington County Sheriff to the university control center the evening of Sept. 11. Until then, "we had identified a person of interest, but we did not specifically know who the shooter was." A family-connected intermediary (Nester: a former Boy Scout leader) facilitated it; Robinson went to the Washington County SD with his parents and walked in.
- Not present at the autopsy; met the ME after. Ring-camera owners (the Nobles) had told him the driver was bald and there were three other people in the car (Ex. Hull-48) — not mentioned on direct. UVU later paved over the dirt under the tent.
Redirect (Sterk)
- Rifles are carried "cruiser ready" (no round chambered); ejecting the magazine can drop a round — explaining the stray bullet. Hundreds, "if not a thousand," officers responded to clear the campus.
- The object is first clearly in Robinson's hand on the white NE corner before the jump — black, long. The rifle was recovered Sept. 10 in the wooded area Robinson entered. On the roof he ran (no limp); the limp was on the earlier approach.
3 · Sgt. Jennifer Faumuina [?]Utah SBI/DPS — Evidence Response Team lead · Direct: McBride · cross reserved (recalled later)
Direct — chain of custody
- Oversaw the crime scenes and physical evidence on Sept. 10. The screwdriver was collected by the state crime lab's response team, packaged, and turned over to the FBI for testing.
- In the wooded area NE of campus: a long gun wrapped in a dark towel — a Mauser Model 98, .30-06, bolt-action rifle. Documented in place, rendered safe, packaged. Rifle → ATF lab; towel → FBI lab; screwdriver → FBI lab.
- Sponsored Ex. 30.1, the FBI DNA report (analyst Amanda Baker): Item 7 = towel from the Mauser; Item 8 = screwdriver from the perch. Both put a two-person male mixture including roommate Lance Twiggs, with Robinson far more likely than an unknown as the second contributor (towel ~1.7 octillion×; screwdriver ~30 quintillion×). Buccal swabs were taken from Twiggs and Robinson.
4 · Amanda BakerFBI Laboratory, Quantico — forensic DNA examiner (10+ yrs) · Defense witness, out of order · Direct: Burt · ongoing at cutoff
Direct (Burt) — the limits of the DNA
- Evidence first received Sept. 11, 2025; run as priority one (24/7). A Sept. 13 comm-log entry recorded Robinson as a "possible contributor" to the towel and screwdriver; report dated Sept. 15, conforming to DOJ uniform language (Ex. Baker-7, Baker-8).
- FBI policy bars claims of absolute identification, "reasonable scientific certainty," or a zero error rate / infallibility — Baker confirmed she followed all three.
- Activity level: she cannot opine how or when DNA was deposited — presence ≠ touch. DNA can persist "indefinitely" under ideal conditions.
- Degradation: both items degraded — the screwdriver more ("ski-slope" peaks), the towel slightly. Item 7 (towel) = full profile; Item 8 (screwdriver) = partial (allele drop-out). Known samples (Twiggs, Robinson) = full.
- Mixtures / low template: both samples were mixtures with minor contributors below 20% (towel 5%/95%; screwdriver 11%/89%). She used STRmix; running it repeatedly yields different likelihood ratios (within ~a factor of 10) — not exactly reproducible.
- PCAST supports probabilistic genotyping for ≤3-person mixtures where the minor is ≥20%; Burt pressed that both samples fell below that. NIST (2024) flagged inconsistency in number-of-contributor (NOC) estimates across analysts.
- The 3→2 revision (Item 7-C): Baker's original number of contributors was three (~Sept. 12), reviewed and approved by Terry Benson. On Sept. 13, after receiving a Twiggs elimination sample, she revised to two — everything unlike the major contributor matched Twiggs, leaving nothing for a third.
- The Twiggs likelihood ratio = 1. STRmix returned an LR of exactly 1 ("uninformative") for Twiggs (a scale needs ≥2 for even "limited support," ≥1M for "very strong"). Baker did not rely on that number: she called Twiggs an "assumed contributor" via elimination-sample reasoning, based on investigators' belief the items came from Robinson's home. Burt: the towel was found in a bush at UVU, not a home.
- Isoalleles / sequence: her length-based test cannot distinguish same-length alleles with different sequences (isoalleles) at 5–6 loci; the FBI uses next-generation sequencing only for mitochondrial, not nuclear, DNA (Baker-30-4, 30-5).
- Consumed evidence: items 1–6 (Losee NE-corner swabs) were fully consumed and yielded no DNA — not retestable; item 55 (stairwell railing, two swabs combined) gave a complex mixture of >5 individuals — no conclusion. NRC (1996) and FBI policy 7.4 favor retaining a portion where possible.
- Cross (McBride): BS biology (Salisbury); 11 yrs as examiner; ANAB-accredited lab; STRmix validated (developmental + internal) and used in 120+ labs; DOJ language limits her to reporting the number and one adjective — for Robinson, "very strong support for inclusion" on both items (~1.7 octillion; ~30 quintillion).
- Redirect (Burt): PCAST (chaired by Eric Lander) held that experience and "good professional practices" can't substitute for empirical validity, and remained unpersuaded by industry validation of STRmix; a 2004 DOJ IG audit of the FBI DNA lab was referenced (Baker unaware). Baker excused; court adjourned to Wednesday 1:00 p.m.
Ledger
Exhibit Log — Day 2
New and revisited exhibits. Chips as before.
| Ex. | Item | Objection → Ruling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.4 | Unaltered surveillance compilation — Robinson's four campus visitsPrepared overnight; no zooms/blurs/circles. Covers Sept. 10 into Sept. 11 [source says "11th & 12th"] | Fair-trial / publication → Admitted & published. Distinguished from graphic exhibits; Kearns v. Tribune / Allgier "realistic likelihood of prejudice" not met for non-graphic footage. | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 11.1 | Enhanced compilation (zooms, blurs, red circles) — re-offered after the unaltered version came in | Authenticity + fair-trial → Admitted, but not published/played — Rule 403, cumulative (same video, enhancements only). Court reviews on screens. | ADMITTEDNOT BROADCAST |
| 5.1 | Rule 1102 statement — David Engelhardt (TPUSA; Kirk's pastor)On TPUSA's mission, Kirk's political/religious views, Matthew 19 [source also says ch. 9] | Relevance / opinion (701–702) / 403 / fair-trial → Provisionally admitted, unpublished, to be revisited on the state-of-mind question. Reading it verbatim in open court sustained; counsel may quote points. | PROVISIONALNOT PUBLISHED |
| 30.1 | FBI DNA report (analyst Amanda Baker)Item 7 towel ~1.7 octillion×; Item 8 screwdriver ~30 quintillion× — Robinson + Twiggs as likely contributors | Standing obj.; cumulative as to reading it → Overruled; brief overview allowed. | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-7 | DOJ/FBI approved standards for forensic DNA testimony & reports (defense) | Relevance → Overruled (defines limits of the opinion) | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-8 | DOJ uniform language — probabilistic genotyping systems (defense) | Relevance → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-4 p.3-65 | Technical reviewer's notes on Item 7-COriginal NOC = 3, reviewer (Terry Benson) agreed; basis for 3→2 revision | Relevance → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-4 p.1-28 | Electropherogram for Item 7Illustrates the 3-contributor call; ~150 RFU analytical threshold | Relevance → Overruled (Rule 1102(b)(4)) | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-38 p.39-44 | STRmix report — Item 7-1 vs. Twiggs aloneAssume 2 contributors; likelihood ratio = 1 (uninformative) for Twiggs | Relevance → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-30.4 | Chart of alleles found — Robinson, Twiggs, samples 7-1 & 8-1 | Relevance → Overruled, questioning time-limited | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| Baker-30.5 | Same chart with isoalleles indicated (same length, different sequence) | Relevance → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
Also referenced (not separately offered here): Ex. Hull-1 (Hull's Sept. 14 report), Hull-13 (Davis report incl. Gonzales interview), Hull-48 (Noble interview), clip 49 (breezeway). Defense exhibits are numbered by witness (e.g., "Baker-7").
Bench
Rulings — Day 2
Standing objection preserved without repetition
On the State's request (McBride), Graf confirmed the defense's reliable-hearsay standing objection is preserved throughout without needing to be re-stated each exhibit — while allowing the defense to raise any objection not covered by it.
Def. motion to exclude (denied) — docket 631 · Standing objection filed July 3 — docket 678
Unaltered compilation (11.4) admitted and broadcast; enhanced (11.1) admitted but not played
Graf admitted the clean version (11.4) and allowed it published to the gallery and broadcast, distinguishing it from the graphic exhibits (7/8/9) that implicated victim dignity — 11.4 "just shows the defendant walking around campus." He then admitted the enhanced version (11.1) into evidence but declined to play or broadcast it as needlessly cumulative under Rule 403, reviewing it only on the court's screens.
Utah R. Evid. 403 · UCJA 4-202.02(J) · Kearns v. Tribune Corp., 685 P.2d 515 · Allgier, 258 P.3d 589 · art. I §28 (distinguishing graphic exhibits)
Engelhardt statement (5.1) — provisionally admitted; no verbatim reading in open court
Novak argued the statement was irrelevant, improper opinion, and prejudicial — the enhancement charges Robinson targeted Kirk over political expression (subsection (k)), not religion (subsection (m)), and the statement's focus on Christian doctrine (Matthew 19) risked recasting the case as being about religion. Graf sustained the objection to McBride reading the statement aloud (counsel may quote points, as Novak did), found it relevant to the victim-targeting enhancement, and provisionally admitted it — unpublished — to be revisited if/when it bears on Robinson's state of mind. He declined to close the hearing.
Utah Code 76-3-203.14 (victim-targeting enhancement) · Utah R. Evid. 401, 701–702, 403 · Kearns v. Tribune · State v. Archuleta, 857 P.2d 234 (qualified access) · Waller v. Georgia
Scope of a preliminary hearing on DNA reliability
Through Baker's cross, Graf repeatedly reminded counsel of the probable-cause standard — the magistrate does not weigh competing inferences or make credibility findings — while allowing reliability questioning consistent with his earlier ruling that the magistrate determines the reliability of reliable hearsay. He sustained-in-part on the NIST-report line, permitting a final question before moving on.
State v. Ramirez, 2011 UT 59, ¶10 · Utah R. Evid. 1102 · Utah Const. art. I §11
Record
Cleaned Transcript — Day 2
Expand all · Collapse all — repetitive publication colloquies routed to the Day 2 Exhibit Log.
Opening — standing objection preserved; camera operators
Hull — Direct: the unaltered compilation (11.4) & the four visits
Hull — Cross (Nester): the bullet, the holster, and the surrender
Hull — Redirect (Sterk): the stray round, the object, the banner
Faumuina — Direct (McBride): chain of custody & the FBI DNA report (30.1)
Baker — Direct (Burt): priority-one testing & the reporting standards
Baker — Direct (Burt): mixtures, low template, STRmix, PCAST & NIST
Baker — Direct: the 3→2 revision & the Twiggs "elimination" sample
Baker — Direct: the STRmix likelihood ratio of 1 for Twiggs
Baker — Direct: consumed evidence, the stairwell mixture & isoalleles
Baker — Cross (McBride): credentials, validation, and "very strong support"
Baker — Redirect (Burt) & re-cross: PCAST, STRmix validation, the 2004 audit
Day 3 · Wednesday, July 8, 2026 (afternoon session)
What happened
Day 3 was the surrender-and-statements day. After housekeeping — decorum, camera operators, and Graf's reminder that the hearing must finish Friday at 5:00 p.m. — the State laid out its close: finish through Agent Brian Davis and Sgt. Faumuina, after which the State rests; the defense signaled two remaining witnesses (Oliver and Carter [affiliation garbled — "the 80th"?]). McBride then argued a Rule 1104 framework: the court wears two hats — gatekeeper (admissibility) and fact-finder (magistrate) — may consider not-yet-admitted evidence in the first, is presumed to disregard the inadmissible in the second, and needn't announce which hat it's wearing.
Davis, the SBI co-case agent alongside Hull, narrated the surrender. About 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 he was sent to St. George on word that Robinson would turn himself in; he flew down and reached the Washington County Sheriff's Office near midnight. Robinson had arrived around 9 p.m. with his parents and a family friend, Mike Mitchell, who had helped facilitate the surrender. Investigators ran simultaneous interviews — the mother (Agent Folger [?] and Davis), the father (Hull, Green, Cox), and Mitchell (Terry, Smith). Robinson was formally arrested in the early hours of Sept. 12, transported to the Utah County jail, and booked around 8 a.m. with Davis as booking officer; under warrant, his clothing, buccal DNA swabs, and major-case prints were taken, and his phone had already been seized. Search warrants hit Robinson's residence (~8 a.m.) and his parents' (~4 p.m.) that same day. A short, audio-stripped clip of Robinson seated in the interview room (Ex. 15) was admitted and broadcast.
Then the statements. Roommate Lance Twiggs was interviewed twice — Sept. 12 at St. George PD, and again April 20, 2026 at the county attorney's office, where he testified under a grant of use immunity from both the state and federal prosecutors, in lieu of appearing live. Mitchell gave a second, written 1102 statement on March 31 (Ex. 14 — admitted, but by stipulation not published).
The afternoon's long fight was over admitting Twiggs's recorded April 20 statement (Ex. 16). Graf admitted it in full for the court's consideration — overruling the hearsay objection (he will weigh prosecutor McBride's on-camera narration only as context for Twiggs's answers) and, as magistrate, the Rule 403 objection — but reserved relevance as to pages 19–20 and, to shield the jury pool, barred two passages from being broadcast (roughly 6:56–20:27 and 34:55–35:48 [stamps ASR-approximate]). The deeper battle was constitutional: Novak invoked Estes v. Texas to argue that televising what the State will call a "confession" violates Robinson's 14th Amendment due-process rights — a fight that reaches full pitch Thursday, when the State moves to admit the text messages, the Discord thread, and "the note" (plus five phone screenshots through Davis) — the actual statements attributed to Robinson. Graf ordered a defense bench memo by 8 a.m. and adjourned to Thursday at 9:00. Media counsel and Erika Kirk's lawyer both pressed for full publication; the defense pressed for restraint. One factual wrinkle from Davis's testimony: a live, unfired .223 round was recovered from the Computer Science building roof — a different building, with no line of sight to Kirk's tent — while the murder weapon is a .30-06.
Index
Witnesses — Day 3
One witness across this excerpt: the State's co-case agent. First-name and agency spellings from audio are flagged [?].
3 · Agent Brian DavisUtah State Bureau of Investigation · co-case agent (with Hull) · Direct: State (Hunt [?] / McBride) · ongoing
Background & role
- 27 years in law enforcement — 8 as a state trooper, 18 with SBI, 1 with Utah Transit Authority police; POST-certified since 1999. Task-force service (ATF guns/drugs, FBI Safe Streets gang, US Marshals fugitive apprehension), SWAT, major crimes (homicide, sex crimes, firearms, fraud), and public corruption; FARO-certified (3-D crime-scene laser imaging) and a certified forensic interviewer. 60-plus homicide investigations; consults on a cold-case unit.
- Co-case agent with Agent Dave Hull — the two who "direct the case," make assignments, and ultimately screen it to the county attorney. SBI is the primary investigating agency; dozens of agencies assisted (FBI, ATF, UVU PD, Utah and Washington County sheriffs, St. George PD).
The surrender (Sept. 11–12)
- ~8:30 p.m. Sept. 11: called to travel to St. George on information a person would turn himself in over the campus shooting. Flew down on a fixed-wing aircraft with an FBI agent, prosecutor McBride, a county-attorney representative, and two pilots; reached the Washington County SO close to midnight.
- Robinson had arrived ~9 p.m. with his parents and family friend Mike Mitchell. Davis observed him on the interview-room A/V monitor and obtained his name and date of birth.
- Simultaneous interviews: the mother — Agent Folger [?] (FBI) and Davis; the father — Agents Hull, Green, Cox; family friend Mitchell — Agents Terry and Smith.
Arrest & processing
- Phone seized at the Washington County SO. Formally arrested after the interviews, early Sept. 12; transported to the Utah County jail (~7 a.m.), booked ~8 a.m. with Davis as booking officer. Under a search warrant: clothing recovered, buccal DNA swabs, and major-case prints (fingerprints + palm prints).
- Search warrants (Sept. 12): Robinson's residence — team led by an FBI supervisor with the Utah State Crime Lab, ~8 a.m.; his parents' residence — the FBI Evidence Response Team, ~4 p.m. Davis was not present at either. Robinson lived with a roommate (Twiggs).
Mike Mitchell (family friend) — Ex. 14
- Helped facilitate the surrender. Interviewed early Sept. 12 (Agents Terry, Smith). A second, written 1102 statement was taken March 31, 2026 at the St. George courthouse — present: McBride, Grunander, Kimberly [?] (county attorney), and Agent Chris Terry (FBI). Admonished by McBride (false statements = class A misdemeanor), Mitchell wrote it alone over ~1 hour → Ex. 14.
The roof round
- A live, unfired .223 round was recovered from the roof of the Computer Science building (far east side) — documented by Agent Snyder [?] (FBI). Primer undented, projectile intact. That roof had no line of sight to Kirk's tent. Davis relayed this secondhand. Note the caliber: the murder weapon is a .30-06; this round is .223.
Lance Twiggs (roommate) — Ex. 16
- Interviewed twice: Sept. 12 at St. George PD (FBI Agents Larson [?] and another), phone provided voluntarily; and April 20, 2026 at the county attorney's office with his attorney present, under use immunity from both the Utah County and U.S. Attorney's offices. Given the 1102 admonition by McBride, and told the April 20 session was in lieu of testifying at the hearing. Both interviews recorded.
Ledger
Exhibit Log — Day 3
Chips as before. "OFFERED" marks an exhibit whose admission was still being argued at the break.
| Ex. | Item | Objection → Ruling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Interview-room video of Robinson seated/waiting — Washington County SOStipulated to a shorter clip with no audio (State had proposed a longer version with audio) | Standing objection (electronic-media coverage, not 1102) → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 14 | Mike Mitchell's written 1102 statement (March 31, 2026)Admitted with stipulated redactions | Standing 1102 objection noted → Admitted; not published per stipulation | ADMITTEDNOT PUBLISHED |
| 16 | Twiggs's recorded 1102 statement (April 20, 2026, under use immunity)~21-pp. transcript; two passages barred from broadcast: ~6:56–20:27 and ~34:55–35:48 [stamps ASR-approx.] | Hearsay overruled (McBride's narration = context only); relevance reserved (pp. 19–20); 403 overruled for admissibility → Admitted in full for the court; two passages withheld from publication under 403 (jury-pool caution) | ADMITTEDCOURT2 PASSAGES NOT BROADCAST |
Anticipated Thursday (not yet offered): the text-message thread and the Discord group chat (referenced as 16.1 / 16.2), five screenshots of Twiggs's phone (through Davis), and "the note" — the statements the State will characterize as Robinson's confession, and the subject of the Estes publication fight.
Bench
Rulings — Day 3
The court's two hats — Rule 1104 (gatekeeper vs. fact-finder)
McBride framed the second half: at a preliminary hearing the court is both gatekeeper (deciding admissibility, not bound by the rules of evidence except privilege) and fact-finder (the magistrate weighing probable cause). In the gatekeeper role it may consider evidence whose admissibility isn't yet settled — including foundational reliable hearsay — and in the fact-finding role it is presumed to consider only admissible evidence and disregard the rest, so it need not announce which hat it is wearing. Because the hearing is presumptively public, the State said it would lay foundation and argue admission in open court. Burt agreed on the framework, reserving the right to raise fair-trial concerns.
Utah R. Evid. 1104, 1102 · State v. Griffin, 2016 UT 33, ¶33 · State v. Adams, 2011 UT App 163 · (later, on Ex. 16) State v. Feather, 781 P.2d 424 [?]; State v. Hannigan, 2014 UT App 165 [?]; State v. Rosecrans, 2024 UT App 128
Ex. 15 admitted and broadcast; Ex. 14 admitted but not published
The audio-stripped interview-room clip of Robinson (Ex. 15), stipulated to by both sides, was admitted and published to the gallery and the cameras over the standing media-coverage objection. Mitchell's written 1102 statement (Ex. 14), with stipulated redactions, was admitted but — per the parties' agreement — withheld from both the gallery and the cameras.
Standing objections preserved (dockets 631 / 678) · publication by stipulation
Twiggs's recorded statement (Ex. 16) — admitted in full; two passages withheld from broadcast
After reviewing the video and the defense's highlighted redactions over a recess, Graf ruled: the hearsay objection is overruled — prosecutor McBride's statements on the recording will be considered only for context and their effect on Twiggs, not for their truth. On relevance, he found the transcript a true and accurate representation but reserved whether to consider pages 19–20 until he hears the rest of the State's evidence. On Rule 403, as magistrate he is not subject to a jury's prejudice concerns, so for admissibility the objection is overruled and Ex. 16 is admitted in its entirety for the court's consideration. But to protect the potential jury pool, he ordered two passages not published in the courtroom or on camera (audio and video): roughly 6:56–20:27 (largely the text messages — also cumulative under 403, revisitable if the texts aren't separately admitted) and 34:55–35:48 on p. 19. [Timestamps as rendered by ASR — approximate.] The redactions are for publication only; the court considers the whole exhibit.
Utah R. Evid. 1102, 1104, 401, 403, 801(d) (party-opponent) · use-immunity grant (Utah County + U.S. Attorney) · UCJA 4-202.02(J)
The Estes question — may a "confession" be broadcast? Bench memo ordered
Novak raised a constitutional objection beyond the rules of evidence: statements Twiggs attributes to Robinson (and the forthcoming texts, Discord thread, and note) are what the State will call a confession, and televising a confession pretrial violates Robinson's 14th Amendment due-process rights — citing Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532 (and the rule drawn from Rideau v. Louisiana), which he read to bar it without any prejudice showing. Graf pressed whether that language rested on a Rideau dissent and asked for briefing. Media counsel and counsel for Erika Kirk both urged full publication (transparency; much is already public in the charging Information; fair-trial risks curable by expanded voir dire). Graf ordered a defense bench memo by 8:00 a.m. Thursday so the issue can be resolved before the text messages, Discord thread, note, and five phone screenshots are offered. Merits of the Estes publication question undecided — set for Thursday.
Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532 · Rideau v. Louisiana · U.S. Const. amend. XIV · State v. Archuleta (access to documents the court relies on) · Allgier (voir dire / questionnaires)
Record
Cleaned Transcript — Day 3
Expand all · Collapse all — repetitive publication colloquies routed to the Day 3 Exhibit Log. Pre-session ambient chatter picked up by the microphones is omitted as non-record.
Opening — decorum, cameras, and the roadmap to Friday
Rule 1104 — the court's gatekeeper and fact-finder roles
Davis — background, role, and the primary agency
Davis — the surrender in St. George
The interview-room video (Ex. 15)
Davis — arrest, booking, and the search warrants
Davis — Mike Mitchell and the written 1102 (Ex. 14)
Davis — the live .223 round on the Computer Science roof
Davis — Twiggs, use immunity, and the fight over Ex. 16
Ex. 16 argued — best evidence, privacy, and the Estes "confession" problem
Ex. 16 — the ruling: admitted in full, two passages off-air
The Estes fight — the note, the texts, the Discord — and a bench memo
Day 4 · Thursday, July 9, 2026 (full day · morning & afternoon)
recording · part 1 recording · part 2
What happened
Day 4 was the publication fight the court had teed up on Wednesday: whether the State could show its most sensitive exhibits — Robinson’s text thread, the Discord messages, and the handwritten note — to the gallery and over the live camera feed. Erika Kirk was present; her representative had filed overnight pressing for the evidence to be displayed in the courtroom so the family could see it.
Graf announced a three-tier framework and applied it exhibit by exhibit: (1) admission to the court for the probable-cause determination, (2) display to the gallery, (3) broadcast beyond the courtroom through the camera. He stressed that admission does not equal publication, and that each exhibit gets its own weighing.
Then the marquee argument. The defense (Novak, joined by Burt) argued that broadcasting Robinson’s admissions through the court-ordered camera feed is itself state action creating presumptive prejudice — an “extreme case” of pretrial publicity under Estes, Rideau, and Skilling. The State (Ballard) answered that Rideau involved an orchestrated, televised custodial interrogation, nothing like Robinson’s voluntary texts to a partner and friends, and that any prejudice is curable through voir dire; transparency and the victim’s and public’s rights cut the other way. A media attorney urged a Utah Supreme Court access decision recognizing a presumptive right of access, especially where much of the material is already public.
Graf overruled the defense’s standing objection: publishing the written, voluntary communications is not the kind of inherent prejudice that requires categorical restriction; any risk is manageable through jury selection. He then set publication tiers exhibit by exhibit and recalled Agent Brian Davis (direct by Hunt) to sponsor Exhibit 16 — the Cellebrite extraction of Lance Twiggs’s phone — and played the redacted Ex. 16 video: Twiggs’s interview, given under a federal and state immunity grant, walking through the note, the text thread, the Discord server, and the FBI suspect images. The court also admitted and allowed publication of Exhibit 5.1 over a religion-vs-political-expression objection, then broke for lunch with Davis’s cross still pending.
Index
Witnesses — Day 4
Four figures across the day: Lance Twiggs, whose recorded immunized interview is Exhibit 16; Agent Davis, recalled to sponsor it; Sgt. Faumuina, recalled for the crime-scene and forensic-report walkthrough on which the State rested; and the defense’s ATF firearms examiner, whose inconclusive bullet comparison and PCAST cross opened the defense case.
Lance TwiggsRobinson’s roommate / partner · recorded interview (Ex. 16) · testifying under federal + state use immunity
Posture
- Not live on the stand: his account reaches the court through the recorded interview played as Ex. 16 — a first interview on Sept 12, 2025 (St. George PD / FBI) and a second on April 20, 2026 (Utah County Attorney’s Office). Questioned in the video by McBride.
- Sworn on-camera and given the false-statements admonition; confirmed federal and state agreements granting immunity for the materials discussed.
The account
- Roommates in a St. George apartment who began dating a few months in; shared gaming (he named a pirate game and co-op titles), little politics — he said Robinson followed Trump-era policy talk on the radio but he’d never heard Robinson mention Charlie Kirk before.
- Around a month before Sept 10, Robinson had mentioned engraving bullets ahead of a hunting trip; Twiggs told him not to set one off in the house.
- Night of Sept 9–10 Robinson slept at the apartment and left very early — Twiggs estimated ~4–5 a.m. — saying he had a long drive to work.
- ~11 p.m. Sept 10 he got the “look under my keyboard” text, found the note on Robinson’s desk, photographed it, and put it back.
- Sept 11: saw Robinson at the apartment; Robinson was agitated, said what he’d written the night before was true, cried, and eventually said he would talk to his parents or turn himself in.
- Identified the FBI suspect images as consistent with Robinson (shoes, sunglasses, jeans); identified Robinson’s Discord handle and phone number.
Agent Brian DavisUtah State Bureau of Investigation · co-case agent · recalled · Direct: Hunt · sponsoring Ex. 16
What he authenticated
- Ex. 16 as the Cellebrite extraction of Twiggs’s phone; the on-screen images are photographs of Twiggs’s phone taken by FBI Agent Larson during the first interview, later confirmed by Twiggs in the second.
- Chain: phone recovered after the first interview, transported to the RCFL (Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory) in Salt Lake City, extracted via Cellebrite, reviewed by an SIAC analyst who located the note image.
- Phone identified by Twiggs via a distinctive cracked upper-left screen; the number Twiggs gave for Robinson matched law-enforcement records; the Discord thread recovered via subpoena to Discord.
- First text in the thread: Sept 10, 11:00 p.m.; last: ~7:42 p.m. Sept 11 (before the surrender). Davis identified Robinson in the courtroom.
Sgt. Jennifer FaumuinaUtah Dept. of Public Safety · crime-scene & evidence supervisor · recalled · Direct: McBride / Cross: Burt [ASR renders “Molina”; corrected to Faumuina, consistent with her Day 2 testimony]
Role & the scenes
- Assigned ~1:30 p.m. Sept 10 from DPS headquarters in Salt Lake; reached UVU’s south end amid multiple agencies and was sent to the incident command post in the Fulton building. Primary assignment: oversee the crime scenes and physical evidence once campus was secured.
- Scenes processed: the courtyard/amphitheater (event site), the Losee Center rooftop and the ground below, the Fulton Library, and the wooded area across Campus Drive.
Rooftop & the drop
- State crime-lab CSIs processed the roof: a screwdriver; the shooter’s “perch” (gravel disturbances visible at night under ALS/blue light); swipes and impressions on the northeast ledge; and, on the glass window below, latent fingerprints and a palm print. Shoe impressions collected.
- Measured perch-to-tent: ~415 ft along the slope, ~410 ft horizontal, with a ~68 ft vertical drop.
- By stipulation: FBI examiner Elisa Farmer [name per auto-transcript] found only three latents (11B, 11C, 11D) of comparable value and excluded Robinson as their source; the rest lacked value; subsequent FBI examination of the three was inconclusive.
The wooded area & the weapon
- ~6 p.m. Sept 10, Washington County SO — searching on UVU security video of the suspect fleeing northeast off the roof and across Campus Drive — found a rifle wrapped in a dark towel in the bushes. Faumuina held the scene; she and the FBI Evidence Response Team (SA Michelle Mack) recovered it (Ex. 10, 10.1–10.3).
- The rifle: a bolt-action .30-06 (a Mauser-pattern rifle). Made safe: one fired cartridge case in the chamber and three unfired cartridges, all engraved (Ex. 19–20.2).
St. George searches & the reports
- Oversaw warrants at Robinson’s townhome and his parents’ home. Recovered: a Dremel-type rotary tool + bits, .30-06 ammunition and cartridge cases, long guns/a revolver, a burnt note (Ex. 20.4), clothing/shoes, shooting targets with perforations (Ex. 20.5), and — atop a safe in the spare bedroom next to Robinson’s — five .30-06 casings, one engraved “test shot” (Ex. 20.3). The parents’ Dodge Challenger was collected.
- Sponsored the ATF forensic reports: DNA placing Robinson as a major contributor on the rifle and cartridges “at least one trillion times” more likely than not (Ex. 3, 30.3); firearm/toolmark reports tying the engraving cutter to the marks on the cartridges and the “test shot” casing, and identifying the fired case as fired in the recovered rifle (Ex. 30, 30.4); and the inconclusive bullet-jacket comparison (Ex. 30.2).
- On cross (Burt): the compiled investigative report runs ~229 pages (Faumuina authored ~9 of its component reports); a NIBIN ballistics query returned no hit; items seized at the Fulton Library bus stops (a backpack, jacket, gloves) were sent to the FBI lab and later deemed unrelated; the towel/rifle was physically seized by SA Mack; jail-mail monitoring of Robinson is ongoing, with no result she was briefed on.
ATF firearms & toolmark examiner [ASR “Carter”/“Garner”; the defense’s two ATF witnesses were named Oliver and Carter, so likely Carter — verify]Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives · Forensic Science Laboratory · defense witness · Direct: Burt / Cross: McBride
Who she is
- ATF firearm/toolmark examiner ~6½ years; prior latent-print technician and crime-scene investigator (Winston-Salem, NC, and a Maryland county). B.S. in forensic & investigative science (West Virginia University); graduate of the National Firearms Examiner Academy; her lab is ANAB-accredited.
Her opinion & the challenge to it
- Authored the report (Ex. 30.2) on the bullet-jacket fragment (Ex. 6a) recovered from Kirk at autopsy: it could not be identified or excluded as fired from the recovered rifle — inconclusive, for lack of quality and quantity of individual marks. The lead fragments (6b–6e) were unsuitable for comparison.
- Her conclusions follow the AFTE theory of identification and the DOJ’s Uniform Language for Testimony and Reports: no claim of uniqueness, individualization, zero error rate, or statistical certainty.
- Burt’s cross went to reliability: the 2016 PCAST report finding firearms comparison fell short of foundational validity (a single appropriately designed study), the 2017 PCAST addendum reiterating the need for black-box studies, the 2009 NAS report, and the subjectivity of “sufficient agreement.” She acknowledged a discipline with a false-positive rate above 5% is unreliable, and that her one bullet-comparison proficiency test (~2023) carried high item error rates (~18–20%) where the ground truth was exclusion and she answered inconclusive. Graf repeatedly reined the cross back to the probable-cause standard.
- On redirect (McBride): the science is routinely admitted across the country, her lab is accredited and audited, and AFTE takes PCAST’s recommendations seriously.
Ledger
Exhibit Log — Day 4
Chips: ADMITTED received by the court; COURT shown in the courtroom/gallery; MEDIA broadcast on the camera feed; RESTRICTED withheld from broadcast. Every exhibit here was admitted in full for probable cause; the fight was only over publication.
| Ex. | Item | Objection → Ruling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Recorded Twiggs interview (video)Sept 12 2025 + April 20 2026; played with court-ordered time-stamped audio/video redactions | Standing objection (electronic-media coverage) → Overruled | ADMITTED |
| 16.1 | Text thread Robinson ↔ TwiggsPhotos of Twiggs’s phone; ~5½ of 18 pages already reproduced in the Information | Estes/Rideau/Skilling objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 16.2 | Discord thread (Robinson’s friend server)Recovered via subpoena to Discord | Same standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTNO BROADCAST |
| 16.3 | Handwritten note found under the keyboard | Same standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTNO VIDEO |
| 16.4 | FBI-released suspect images (Sept 11) | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 5.1 | Victim-targeting-enhancement item [transcript reads both “4.1” and “5.1” — reconcile against clean record; cf. the Jan 27 objection to “Exhibit 4.1”]Provisionally admitted Day 3; foundation laid, now received in full | Relevance / religion-vs-political-expression → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 3 / 30.3 | ATF DNA reports — rifle, cartridges, Dremel & casingsRobinson a major contributor “at least one trillion times” more likely on the grips, bolt, trigger, barrel, a chambered cartridge, the Dremel bits, and the “test shot” casing | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 30 / 30.2 / 30.4 | ATF firearm & toolmark reportsRifle operable; fired case identified as fired in the rifle; engraving cutter (Ex. 15a) tied to the marks on the cartridges & “test shot” casing; the Ex. 6a bullet-jacket fragment comparison inconclusive | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 10–10.3 | Photos — the towel-wrapped rifle in the bushes, boxed, and unwrapped | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 19–20.2 | Photos — the fired case & three unfired engraved cartridges from the rifleHead stamp “Remington .30-06 Springfield”; engravings read into the record (several ASR-garbled) [?] | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 20.3 / 20.5 | Photos — five .30-06 casings atop the safe (one engraved “test shot”); perforated shooting targets from the closet | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 20.4 | Photo — the burnt note from the kitchen trashDisplayed side-by-side with the 16.3 note image | Standing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTNO BROADCAST |
| 11.4 | Surveillance video (non-zoomed)Played ~10 sec through Faumuina — suspect on the NE roof; later footage showed he did not touch the window on the drop | Relevance → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTMEDIA |
| 11.1 | Surveillance video (enhanced, ~8 min)To be played in the courtroom for the family at the close of defense evidence — not broadcast | Defense continuing objection → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURTNO BROADCAST |
| Def. | Defense-marked exhibits through the ATF examinerHer 47-page case file, the AFTE range-of-conclusions, and the DOJ Uniform Language policy — exhibit numbers ASR-garbled [?] | 403 / authentication → Overruled | ADMITTEDCOURT |
Bench
Rulings — Day 4
The tiered-publication framework
On the victim representative’s overnight motion, Graf held that Article I §28 of the Utah Constitution supports the family’s ability to observe the evidence, but that the manner of display stays within the court’s discretion. He set a three-tier approach applied exhibit by exhibit — (1) admitted to the court for probable cause, (2) displayed to the gallery, (3) broadcast beyond the courtroom — and declined any blanket rule.
Utah Const. art. I, §28
Publishing the admissions — no presumptive prejudice
The defense argued the camera feed is state action that, by broadcasting Robinson’s admissions, creates the kind of presumptive prejudice condemned in Rideau and flagged as an “extreme case” in Skilling. Graf disagreed: unlike the orchestrated, televised custodial confession in Rideau, these are written communications allegedly made outside police custody, offered in the ordinary course of a public proceeding. That distinction weighs against treating publication as presumptively unconstitutional, and any residual risk can be handled through voir dire and pretrial measures. The defense’s standing objection was overruled as to the preliminary hearing; the ruling does not decide admissibility at trial.
Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532 (1965) · Rideau v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 723 (1963) · Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358 (2010) · State v. Allgier, 2011 UT 47, 258 P.3d 589 (right of access to a sealed inmate letter)
Exhibit-by-exhibit publication
16.1 — published to gallery and broadcast, because the State had already publicly distributed it (~5½ of its 18 pages appear in the Information), with one page redacted for a phone number and address. 16.2 (Discord) — gallery only, not broadcast. 16.3 (the note) — courtroom only, not videoed. 16.4 (FBI images) — broadcast. Within the Ex. 16 video, Graf ordered several time-stamped audio/video redactions and, after independent review, added cuts of his own; counsel reconciled the edits on the record to within a second.
Exhibit 5.1 admitted and publishable
Over a defense objection that the material went to religion and was more prejudicial than probative, Graf found 5.1 [4.1/5.1] relevant to the victim-targeting enhancement — that Robinson selected Kirk because of Robinson’s belief or perception about Kirk’s political expression — admitted it, and allowed publication to the gallery and public. He noted he was not deciding how the enhancement applies, only that the item is relevant and admissible for the bind-over.
Utah Code §76-3-203.14(2) (victim-targeting enhancement)
The State rests — bind-over goes to briefing, argument Sept 1
After Sgt. Faumuina’s cross, the State confirmed every offered exhibit was admitted and rested its case-in-chief; it waived rebuttal. Over the defense’s request, and with Robinson waiving his speedy-trial right to allow it, Graf granted briefing on the bind-over rather than argue it Friday: the State (moving party) files by Jul 28, the defense responds by Aug 11, the State replies by Aug 18 (35 / 35 / 18 pages), with oral argument Sept 1 at 10:00 a.m. Erika Kirk’s counsel pressed for speed and took no position on briefing.
Graf, J. · one short defense witness remains for Friday
The family may view Ex. 11.1 in the courtroom
Renewing the reserved request, Graf ruled the enhanced ~8-minute surveillance video (Ex. 11.1) will be played in the courtroom for the Kirk family at the close of the defense’s evidence — not broadcast on the camera feed. The defense’s continuing objection was noted and overruled.
Graf, J. · Utah Const. art. I, §28
Reliability objections to the firearms evidence — overruled
During the defense examiner’s testimony Graf overruled the State’s Rule 403 objection to admitting her 47-page case file, and an authentication objection to the AFTE range-of-conclusions document, finding both relevant to the reports already admitted. He allowed the PCAST / reliability cross but repeatedly limited it, noting that whether the discipline is challenged is fair game while re-litigating the science is beyond a probable-cause hearing.
Graf, J. · Utah R. Evid. 403; Utah R. Crim. P. 1102
Record
Cleaned Transcript — Day 4
The full morning session, segmented and lightly cleaned from a rough same-day auto-transcript — nothing omitted. Speaker labels normalized; garbled names, acronyms, and citations flagged [?]. The Ex. 16.1 text thread is reproduced from the charging Information (accurate public source); its ellipses are the Information’s own. Afternoon session (Davis’s cross onward) not yet available.
Opening — call to order and appearances
Decorum, devices, and the standing statement
The victim representative’s overnight motion — argument
Ruling on the victim-representative motion — the tiered method
Reconciling the Ex. 16 redactions — time stamps
The two disputed passages (pages 10 and 19)
The Estes / Rideau / Skilling argument — the State
The state-action parallel (Novak) and reply (Ballard)
The media’s Utah access argument, and the Kirk family
Graf’s ruling — publishing 16.1, 16.2, and 16.3
Recesses and the edited-video handoff
Exhibit 16 played — Twiggs sworn, immunity
Twiggs (Ex. 16) — background, work, and the night of Sept 9–10
Twiggs (Ex. 16) — the note, the engraved bullets, and September 11
Twiggs (Ex. 16) — Discord, the images, gaming, politics, the gun
Davis authenticates 16.1 — the photos, Cellebrite, the phone
Exhibit 16.1 — the text thread, read into the record
Exhibit 16.2 — the Discord thread
Exhibit 16.3 — the note (RCFL / Cellebrite / SIAC)
Exhibit 16.4 — the FBI suspect images
Exhibit 5.1 — foundation, the enhancement, and the ruling
The last message, the in-court ID, and the lunch recess
Sgt. Faumuina recalled — the scenes, the perch, the rifle in the towel
The engraved rounds and the head stamp
The St. George searches — the Dremel, the casings, the targets, the burnt note
The forensic reports — DNA and toolmarks
Faumuina — cross, and the State rests
Defense case — the ATF examiner: an inconclusive bullet, and PCAST
End of day — bind-over briefing, the family’s viewing, adjournment
Day 5 · Friday, July 10, 2026 (final day)
recording · part 1 recording · part 2
What happened
The last day opened not with evidence but with a sanctions fight. Novak told the court that Exhibit 16 — the handwritten note (“I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it”), which Graf had admitted but ordered not broadcast — had appeared on the livestream the previous afternoon, when it was placed on-screen beside the broadcastable burnt-note photo (Ex. 20.4). The defense called it the second violation of the court’s camera orders and renewed its motion (Docket 305) to bar all electronic media coverage, both for the rest of the hearing and for the Sept 1 argument. “I’m a baseball fan,” Novak said, “and I just don’t think the court needs to wait for the third strike.”
After reviewing the livestream, Graf made findings: Ex. 16, inverted, appeared on all monitors and on the feed for roughly three and a half seconds before the camera operator caught it and panned away; the court then stopped it. He noted the note’s full text was already public — read into open court, partly quoted in the Information, and released in full in a March search warrant. The remedy: he denied reversing the camera authorization, but as a sanction barred the media from capturing or broadcasting any exhibit for the remainder of Friday, reserving the Sept 1 question for a future motion.
Grunander then urged the court to keep the defense’s last witness inside the probable-cause lane, reciting the Utah standard — evidence viewed most favorably to the State, the magistrate barred from weighing credibility or choosing between competing inferences (Schmidt, Hester, Virgin, Lopez) — and flagging a possible standing objection. Burt answered that the State had already waived any standing objection at the pre-hearing conference, and that his aim was narrow: the State had put its DNA reports in through a non-expert and read only selected paragraphs, leaving a misleading impression, so he had brought the report’s author to show its limits.
That witness was Caitlin Oliver, the ATF DNA section chief who authored the reports. On cross she conceded the reach of the science: her lab reports likelihood ratios, not a verbal “strong support” scale, and never asserts source attribution, uniqueness, infallibility, a zero error rate, or reasonable scientific certainty; the “one trillion times” figure is a reporting cap, not the true number; DNA cannot say when or how it was deposited, or by what activity; and degraded, multi-person mixtures (four to five contributors) are harder to resolve. Her sharpest concession for the defense: the elimination samples put Matthew Robinson’s DNA on the rifle and Lance Twiggs’s DNA on the Dremel — consistent with people who lived in or were associated with the home, not with any particular act. She also acknowledged the D3S1358 allele-17 sub-variants that only sequencing (NGS) can distinguish — testing she did not perform — though Graf sustained the State’s relevance objections there as beyond probable cause.
On redirect, McBride restored the counterweight: the lab is accredited (ISO 17025 plus FBI standards), the methodology validated and accepted by courts nationwide, and the reports place Robinson as a major contributor “at least one trillion times” more likely on the rifle’s grips, bolt, trigger, barrel, and cartridges.
With that, the defense rested. The State offered no rebuttal. On counsel’s advice, Robinson declined to testify, nodding his assent for the record. Graf then let the family view the enhanced ~8-minute surveillance video (Ex. 11.1) in the courtroom — livestream cut to audio-only during it, no still capture — the least-restrictive way to honor the victim representative’s access without broadcasting the exhibit. The evidence closed. No probable-cause ruling issued. The bind-over goes to briefing (State July 28, defense Aug 11, reply Aug 18) and oral argument on September 1 at 10 a.m., up to four hours total, with Robinson present. The court adjourned.
Index
Witnesses — Day 5
One witness closed the evidence: the defense’s ATF DNA section chief, called to put limits around the DNA reports the State had introduced through a non-expert.
Caitlin Oliver [first name per auto-transcript]ATF Forensic Science Laboratory · DNA section chief · defense witness · Cross: Burt / Redirect: McBride
Who she is
- DNA section chief at the ATF laboratory since January; ~9 years with ATF; previously a forensic biologist at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (New Orleans). Author of the case’s ATF DNA / forensic-biology reports.
The limits of the reports (cross)
- Her lab reports a likelihood ratio — a number that stands on its own — and does not use a verbal scale (“strong support”), because adding subjective words to “support” is not, in the lab’s view, scientific. Per the DOJ Uniform Language policy, she asserts no source attribution, no uniqueness, no infallibility, no zero error rate, and no “reasonable scientific certainty.”
- The “one trillion times” value is a reporting cap — the true ratio could be far higher (quintillions, octillions) — chosen because a trillion is meaningful to people. Reading a likelihood-ratio paragraph and then headlining “Robinson’s DNA was found on X” would be a source attribution and, she agreed, not scientifically defensible.
- DNA cannot speak to activity — not how, when, or by what act it was deposited. Citing the NIST human-factors report, she agreed a profile can appear even where the contributor never touched the item (secondary transfer), and that “major” vs “minor” contributor reflects quantity of DNA, not conduct. Several samples were degraded and were mixtures of four to five people.
- The defense’s central point: her elimination samples (Amber Robinson, Matthew Robinson, Lance Twiggs) turned up as included possible contributors on evidence items — Matthew Robinson on the rifle (swabs 1.4 and 1.6) and Lance Twiggs on the Dremel buttons — because they were associated with the home, not because they were suspects. She agreed anyone living there could contribute DNA to a household object.
- She conceded she did not perform next-generation sequencing (NGS); her STRmix length-based analysis cannot distinguish the D3S1358 allele-17 sub-variants (17a/17b/17c) that share a length but differ in sequence. Graf sustained the State’s relevance objections on that line as beyond a probable-cause hearing.
The counterweight (redirect)
- The lab is accredited (ISO 17025 plus an FBI standard), its methodology validated and accepted by courts across the country, and she is competency- and proficiency-tested. The reports place Robinson as a major contributor “at least one trillion times” more likely on the rifle’s stock/grips, bolt, trigger/guard, forend, barrel, receiver underside, and a chambered .30-06 cartridge case.
Ledger
Exhibit Log — Day 5
A light exhibit day — and under Friday’s sanction, nothing was broadcast. The DNA reports were already in evidence and were re-displayed to the witness; the defense’s reference documents were shown to the witness only.
| Ex. | Item | Objection → Ruling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 / 30.4 | ATF DNA / forensic-biology reportsPreviously admitted; re-displayed to the witness for the cross on the reports’ limits | — (already admitted) | ADMITTEDCOURTNO BROADCAST |
| Def. | Defense reference documents through OliverDOJ Uniform Language (DNA) policy, the NIST “Forensic DNA Interpretation and Human Factors” report, her case notes, allele tables, and lab SOP — exhibit numbers ASR-garbled [?] | Shown to lay foundation | WITNESS ONLY |
| 11.1 | Enhanced surveillance video (~8 min)Played in the courtroom for the family; livestream cut to audio-only; no still/video capture of the monitors | Defense continuing objection → Overruled | COURTAUDIO ONLY |
Bench
Rulings — Day 5
Camera sanction — no exhibit broadcast for the rest of the day
Graf found that his order barring broadcast of Exhibit 16 (the note) was violated when the exhibit appeared, inverted, on the livestream for ~3.5 seconds on Day 4. He denied the defense’s motion (Docket 305) to reverse the authorization for cameras, but as a sanction ordered that the media “shall no longer capture or broadcast any exhibits” for the remainder of Friday’s proceedings — proportional to the violation. The court reserved the question of cameras at the Sept 1 argument, there being no request yet before it.
Graf, J. · second such violation noted · note text already public via the Information and a March search warrant
Ex. 11.1 for the family — livestream to audio-only
Redrawing his prior ruling in light of the sanction, Graf ordered the enhanced ~8-minute video played in the courtroom for all present, including the victim representative, with the livestream limited to audio-only while it ran and no still capture of the monitors — the least-restrictive means of honoring the family’s access without transmitting the exhibit.
Graf, J. · Utah Const. art. I, §28
Scope held to probable cause; sequencing line cut off
Grunander recited the Utah probable-cause standard — the magistrate views the evidence most favorably to the State and may not weigh credibility or choose among competing inferences (Schmidt, Hester, Virgin, Lopez) — and Burt answered that the State had waived any standing objection. Graf held the line, sustaining several relevance objections during Oliver’s cross, particularly the next-generation-sequencing questions, as beyond a probable-cause hearing.
Graf, J. · reliability goes to weight, reserved for trial
Evidence closed — bind-over argument set for September 1
The defense rested; the State offered no rebuttal; and, on counsel’s advice, Robinson elected not to testify (nodding for the record). With the evidence closed and no probable-cause ruling issued, the hearing was continued to September 1 at 10:00 a.m., in person, for up to four hours of argument, with Robinson present. The briefing schedule set on Day 4 (State Jul 28 · defense Aug 11 · reply Aug 18) stands.
Graf, J. · preliminary hearing adjourned
Record
Cleaned Transcript — Day 5
The broadcast violation — the defense asks for a sanction
The court’s findings and the sanction
“Take time to save time” — the probable-cause reminder
Oliver — the limits of the DNA reports
The elimination samples — the father’s DNA on the rifle, the roommate’s on the Dremel
Oliver — redirect: accreditation and the one-trillion findings
The defense rests — the family’s viewing, and the continuance
Reference · Case No. 251403576
Filings & Orders
The pretrial paper trail behind the hearing — the charging document and the motions/orders the transcript keeps referencing (hearsay, cameras, the ATF ballistics fight, contempt). Utah state filings aren't on any federal system, and both XChange and DocumentCloud are access-walled, so full text is hard to harvest programmatically. Where a document is hosted here the PDF travels with this archive; otherwise the link points to the best public reporting, and the full filing can be pulled from XChange or DocumentCloud. Summaries are paraphrased; this layer is a finding aid, not a substitute for the filings themselves. Two Utah County Attorney press releases are included as official statements — flagged as such, and not court filings.
The office’s first public statement following the Sept 10 shooting — its initial official framing of the case, issued the day of the killing. Official DA statement — not a court filing.
Seven counts. Count 1 — Aggravated Murder, capital (§76-5-202); Count 2 — Felony Discharge of a Firearm Causing Serious Bodily Injury, 1st-degree (§76-11-210); Counts 3–4 — Obstruction of Justice, 2nd-degree (hiding the rifle; discarding the clothing); Counts 5–6 — Tampering with a Witness, 3rd-degree (directing the roommate to delete texts, then to stay silent); Count 7 — Violent Offense in the Presence of a Child, class A misdemeanor. The victim-targeting enhancement (§76-3-203.14(2), "political expression") attaches to Counts 1, 2, and 7. Probable-cause statement by SBI Agent Brian Davis. Note: some outlets reported 9–10 counts; the operative Information charges seven.
The standalone sworn probable-cause affidavit by SBI Agent Brian Davis supporting the initial arrest charges — the rooftop surveillance track, the towel-wrapped Mauser .30-06 and its engraved casings, DNA on the trigger, and the roommate message thread. Distinct from the probable-cause statement embedded in the Information.
Routine pretrial-services risk screen. Its "no elevated risk of violence" flag keys on an empty prior-record sheet — a scoring artifact, not a judgment about the offense, and not to be read as a risk finding on a capital defendant.
Orders Robinson held without bail on the capital charge. Signer/date to be confirmed against the order itself; the court register logs this as filed Sep 16.
The State’s formal notice that it will seek the death penalty — what makes Count 1 a capital prosecution and drives the heightened decorum, media, and closure fights that follow. Logged in the register; full text not yet hosted.
Protective order shielding the victim’s family (Erika Kirk). Proposed and entered the same day.
Victim’s counsel (Neiman / Moss) asking that Erika Kirk be designated to represent the deceased victim, Charles James Kirk, under §77-38-9(2).
The office’s Sept 22 statement naming the prosecution trial team — Gray, Grunander, McBride, Hunt, Sturgill, and Ballard. Official DA statement — not a court filing.
The publicity order (internal #23) governing extrajudicial statements — the order the State later moved to amend/clarify and the media repeatedly litigated. Full text not yet hosted.
Routine defense request for a copy of a hearing audio recording. Low-value housekeeping — cuttable if the docket runs long.
Defense moves to preserve all evidence and to require notice before any potentially destructive testing — opening the preserve-evidence saga that resolves in the Nov 4 stipulated order and governs the later ATF/ballistics dispute.
Stipulated Rule 16(d) order protecting witness PII in discovery — part of the witness-safety architecture the February closure proffer later leans on.
The court’s Oct 20 grant of the preserve-evidence motion — set aside two weeks later by the Nov 4 stipulated order. The last dangling reference in the preserve-evidence saga; full text not yet hosted.
Defense moves to strike the Sheriff’s response as a non-party filing — the UCAO’s Civil Division had answered “for the State,” a role-conflation beat that rhymes with the disqualification fight.
State agrees to preserve material evidence but resists a blanket “preserve all” order and notice-before-testing, citing the Trombetta/Youngblood line and the routine release of items like a vehicle.
State notices an open-file discovery posture and invites inspection of the physical evidence.
Graf grants the motion to strike (Sheriff non-party), grants civilian clothing for pretrial hearings, denies appearing unrestrained (Rule 3-414(9)(C)), and amends the decorum order to bar media from filming restraints or Robinson entering and exiting. The origin of the courtroom-imagery limits and forerunner of the January cameras fight.
Stipulated motion to order the Oct 24 sealed-hearing transcript and classify the transcript and audio as private.
Sets aside the premature Oct 20 grant and grants preservation in part on a stipulated compromise: preserve all evidence, but an item may be released on 14-day notice, and the office must notify the defense 14 days before potentially destructive testing (likely to consume an item or change its character). The regime the later ATF/ballistics fight is measured against.
Defense answers a Deseret News-led media coalition; it doesn’t object to legally required notice but calls the demand overbroad and presses fair-trial-over-access in a capital case. Foundation of the media-access fight running through the January cameras ruling.
Utah Office for Victims of Crime restitution/subrogation notice. It names statutory victims beyond Kirk, consistent with the felony-discharge and violent-offense-in-presence-of-a-child counts; the filing redacts non-Kirk individuals to initials, mirrored here. Additional victim detail held pending publish-judgment.
Defense response in the media-intervenors thread (Deseret News-led coalition) over access to and classification of case records.
Graf grants the State’s motion to clarify the pre-trial/trial publicity order (#23) as it applies to witnesses and extrajudicial statements.
The public version of the defense motion to disqualify the UCAO for conflict of interest — the anchor of the disqualification subplot (a prosecutor’s child at the UVU event; an undisclosed ward connection that later surfaces under oath; the §17-68-304 AG-referral gambit). Denied Feb 24, 2026.
The Utah Supreme Court denies the defense petition for permission to appeal an interlocutory order, sending the disputed questions back to the district court.
State opposes disqualification; it keeps the deputy/child identity redacted and flags the “chief deputy’s daughter” reporting as unconfirmed.
Defense partial reply requesting that the court take evidence at a hearing on the disqualification question.
A motion tied to forensic testing that the defense asked the court to keep private, arguing exposure could taint the jury pool. Graf later found most of it did not qualify as "private" and ordered a redacted substitute — the material now surfacing as the DNA testimony in Day 2.
Defense subpoena for the lead case agent, Sgt. David Hull.
Argued that broadcast coverage threatens Robinson's due-process and fair-jury rights, backed by ~200 pages of publicity exhibits. Media organizations (via David Reymann) and the State opposed; Graf allowed cameras. This is the ruling behind Reymann's recurring appearances over publication of exhibits.
Erika Kirk’s representative invokes the victims’ speedy-trial provisions. Logged in the register; full text not yet hosted.
Defense objects to the State’s proposed Exhibit 4.1 (the Engelhardt statement) on relevance, opinion, and prejudice grounds — the religion-vs-political-expression fight over the victim-targeting enhancement. Full text not yet hosted.
Defense renews its request that the court refer the disqualification question to the Utah Attorney General under §17-68-304.
State opposes the defense bid to classify the camera-exclusion motion as a private record.
Attachment A to the State’s opposition: the UCAO’s internal media-statements guidance directing staff to cease public statements about the case.
State argues the statute gives the court no power to hand the case to the AG, that no threshold conflict exists, and that the motion is a delay tactic; it rebuts the defense’s “Mike Lee footnote.”
Witness-safety proffer to close the courtroom for testimony from “Prosecutor A” and an “Adult Child.” It recites a separate defendant who targeted a prosecutor for doxing and tried to recruit online supporters, with witnesses relocating and scrubbing accounts.
Graf denies both reconsideration and the AG-referral from the bench. Testimony from Jeff Gray, a partially-closed witness (H.G.), Chad Grunander, and Sgt. David Hull; the disqualification motion taken under advisement, with a Feb 24 oral ruling set. Court reporter Phoebe Morehead.
The court’s ruling denying the motion to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office — the disposition of the disqualification subplot. Full text not yet hosted.
A second Utah Office for Victims of Crime restitution/subrogation notice, distinct from the December claim; it likely names additional statutory victims. Same initials-only handling applies. Sensitive — held pending publish-judgment; full text not yet hosted.
Graf ruled the majority of the challenged filings do not qualify as "private," finding the defense hadn't shown release would create a substantial risk to a fair trial, and gave the defense until Mar 30 to file redacted substitutes.
The motion noted an ATF report that could not identify the bullet fragment recovered at autopsy to the recovered rifle. An ATF appendix explains "inconclusive" as insufficient individual characteristics to either identify or exclude; the fragment was too damaged, though the spent casing matched by caliber. This filing is the soft spot in the Weapon pillar and the seed of the later contempt fight.
The defense asked the Utah Supreme Court to review Graf's cameras ruling and to pause all proceedings pending that review. The Utah Attorney General's Office opposed the stay as unwarranted extraordinary relief; the high court did not halt the hearing, which proceeded July 6.
On the defense's motion, Graf ordered prosecutors to answer allegations that Jeff Gray and Chris Ballard breached the Rule 3.6 publicity order via comments to TMZ, USA Today, Fox, and PolitiFact. He stressed this was not itself a contempt finding, and declined to compel discovery of the office's internal communications.
Filed under seal for the preliminary hearing. In court the defense would not name the witness — only that it is not the victim representative — and said the witness's attorney had declined to accept service of the subpoena.
Graf denied the defense motion challenging the use of reliable hearsay / the constitutionality of Rule 1102 at a preliminary hearing. This is the ruling underlying every hearsay objection in the transcript, and the reason the "standing objection" recurs.
Graf held prosecutor Christopher Ballard in civil contempt for telling national outlets the State had "ample evidence" to prove the murder — finding a prosecutor's assertion of the case's strength carries governmental weight and risks the jury pool. He rejected striking the death penalty as "grossly disproportionate," instead ordering jury-pool expansion, adjusted questionnaires, and defense fees.
The blanket standing objection the defense invokes throughout the hearing to preserve its hearsay and reliability challenges for appeal — referenced alongside docket 631 whenever counsel says the objection is "continuing."
To host more filings inside the archive, drop their PDFs into the /filings folder beside this file and I'll wire each into the docket with a hosted here link. Upload any you can pull and I'll fold them in.