Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk, has asked a judge to block video of the assassination at an upcoming court hearing.
Defense attorneys for Robinson, 22, filed a memo on Tuesday arguing that showing the video at a Feb. 3 hearing is irrelevant to their motion looking to bar the county prosecutor’s office from handling the trial, Fox News reported.
Robinson’s lawyers claimed the horrific footage would end up “confusing the issues” and distracting from their argument that the Utah County Attorney’s office has an alleged conflict of interest because the adult child of a deputy prosecutor was at the campus event where Kirk was murdered.
“[The video] is graphic and likely highly disturbing to any person who views it, negatively impacting Mr. Robinson’s constitutional right to a fair trial,” the defense lawyers argued.
Utah prosecutors have denied any conflict of interest in the case, adding that they do not need to nor plan to use the adult child of the deputy prosecutor as a witness.
The defense also claimed that showing the video during the hearing would violate Utah’s rules of evidence, arguing that it should remain sealed until it is officially admitted into evidence at the time of trial.
The video in question was described by the defense as footage taken in color “only a few feet away” from Kirk when he was fatally shot in September at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University.
It’s unclear which video was being presented to the court, but there were multiple videos that circulated online just minutes after the deadly shooting.
Along with the filing to keep the video out of the hearing, the defense also said they would once again ask that cameras be kept out of the courtroom.
Robinson’s lawyers claimed that if Kirk’s murder is played in the courtroom during the upcoming hearing while cameras are allowed, it would be “subject to immediate publication nationwide and internationally.”
The defense argued that the widespread publication of the high-profile case would jeopardize a jury’s impartiality.
Robinson, who has yet to enter a plea, will be back in court on Tuesday to attend the hearing, with Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray expected to return to the witness stand.
Robinson faces seven charges, including aggravated murder, which carries the potential death penalty in Utah.
