A judge in Utah has rejected a defense request that the death penalty be taken off the table in the case over the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In a courtroom ruling, Judge Tony Graf Jr. said that penalty would remain an option at this point in the case against suspect Tyler Robinson.
A report at Fox News said Graf also released his decision that found one of the prosecutors in the case in civil contempt over publicity about the case.
That is Deputy Utah County Attorney Chris Ballard, whose reprimand was based on statements about his opinion on the strength of evidence in the case.
Ballard also was accused of making statements where he disputed a misleading characterization of specific evidence, but the judge had no issues with those, Fox reported.
The result was the contempt finding, but a continuation of the possibility of the death sentence, which defense lawyers had demanded be removed as potential punishment.
“The court finds that striking the death penalty is grossly disproportionate to the misconduct and legally unavailable in this civil contempt framework,” the judge said.
BREAKING: A Utah judge just found one of the county prosecutors in the Tyler Robinson case in contempt for violating the court’s pre-trial publicity order.
This comes as the judge also denies Robinson’s request to remove the death penalty from the Charlie Kirk murder case.… pic.twitter.com/xYMQZ5hx92
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 26, 2026
Robinson is charged with the fatal shooting last year of Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and a popular conservative commentator, activist and advocate.
Prosecutors had “set the record straight” earlier when they addressed what they called a misleading statement from defense lawyers about some evidence in the case.
A gag order from the court in the case did not prohibit that activity, but Ballard was accused of going further in an interview where he expressed confidence in the totality of the evidence.
Graf said that amounted to improperly sharing an opinion on Robinson’s guilt.
The report confirmed prosecutors have planned to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of the Kirk assassination, on Sept. 10, 2025.
