The judge overseeing the case of Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin ruled on Monday that he will allow the media to access the redacted transcript of Tyler Robinson’s closed-door hearing.
“The court need not seal the entire transcript and audio pf the Oct 24, 2025, hearing,” Judge Tony Graf ruled on Monday during the virtual court hearing.
Graf said that audio and transcripts of a hearing that took place on October 24, 2025, could be released with some parts blacked out. He said this would happen in the next few weeks.
Some redactions talk about security measures. In court, Graf went over which parts of the transcript would be blacked out.
Earlier this month, Graf heard arguments on the matter in a private hearing. He is also supposed to decide if attorneys for the media should automatically be told about plans to close the court or keep any documents private, in addition to deciding if certain material can be unsealed.
Graf also heard arguments in a hearing earlier this month about whether the media should be allowed to cover the trial.
A group of media companies has said that covering the trial, including having cameras in the courtroom, is good for the public. The widow of Kirk has also said she supports cameras in the courtroom.
Defense lawyers say that the media coverage could affect Robinson’s right to a fair trial. Graf has already said that the media can’t show pictures of Robinson in shackles.
In the last hearing, he also made it clear that a gag order applies to anyone on the defense or prosecution teams, as well as anyone they believe in good faith will be called as a witness. Not everyone who saw Kirk die is affected by it.
Robinson is being charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent crime in front of a child. He hasn’t said anything yet.
WATCH:
Robinson’s defense lawyers have been busy lately in court.
Robinson’s lawyers also recently requested that Judge Graf remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office as a whole from the case, claiming that prosecutors have a significant conflict of interest that is directly related to the fatal shooting.
Tyler James Robinson’s lawyers claimed in a court document that Fox News was able to obtain that senior members of the prosecutor’s office had “personal and familial connections to the crime scene,” neglected to step aside, and let emotion affect the decision to seek the death penalty.
Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the shooting that killed Kirk on September 10, 2025, during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem, where approximately 3,000 people were present.
The motion states that a close relative of a senior supervisory prosecutor in the Utah County Attorney’s Office was present at the event at the time of the shooting. According to defense lawyers, the family member was about 85 feet away from Kirk when he was shot and fled the scene in fear, leaving behind a backpack that was later captured on camera at the crime scene.
According to the filing, the family member sent the prosecutor real-time text messages detailing the mayhem and stating that Kirk had been shot in the neck.
The defense argues that before any conflict review or ethical screening was implemented, those messages were promptly shared with County Attorney Jeffrey Gray and other members of the prosecution team.
There are concerns that prosecutorial discretion may have been influenced by bias, trauma, or personal fear, as the prosecutor allegedly continued to be actively involved in the case, maintained supervisory authority over the prosecution team, and engaged in internal discussions despite this personal connection.
Defense lawyers contend that recusal and the establishment of an ethical firewall to isolate the conflict—steps that courts normally require to safeguard a defendant’s right to a fair and impartial prosecution—did not take place. They argue that even the appearance of bias is unconstitutional, especially when the State is pursuing the harshest penalty.
The filing also questions the timing of the prosecution’s decision to seek the death penalty. In Robinson’s case, the notice of intent was filed right away with the charging documents, although Utah law permits prosecutors to file one up to sixty days following arraignment.
The defense contends that the decision was influenced by emotion rather than objective legal judgment because the swift action was taken only days after prosecutors were informed of the traumatic experience of their colleague’s family member at the shooting.
The film features graphic eyewitness accounts of Kirk being hit in the neck, blood gushing from his wound, and crowds falling to the ground in fear to highlight the seriousness of the case.
On January 16, 2026, a judge will hear arguments regarding the motion. If the court approves the request, it might remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office as a whole from the case.