A prosecutor’s child witnessed Charlie Kirk’s assassination — can he take part in the case?

PROVO, Utah — Defense attorneys for the Utah electrician accused of assassinating Turning Point USA laminitis Charlie Kirk privation the Utah County Attorney’s Office disqualified from handling the lawsuit due to the fact that a subordinate of the prosecution squad had an big kid who was contiguous for the murder.

But ineligible experts are divided connected whether the transportation constitutes an existent struggle of interest.

"This is 1 of those motions I find ridiculous," said Donna Rotunno, a Chicago transgression defence lawyer and Fox News contributor. "Normally I similar to spot a vigorous defence and attorneys doing everything they tin to support their client, but this is 1 that I find frivolous successful nature."

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Tyler Robinson, accused of the execution of Charlie Kirk, appears during a proceeding successful Fourth District Court successful Provo, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)

It would beryllium a struggle if the relative’s beingness had immoderate mode of influencing the case, she told Fox News Digital. "If the household subordinate was the victim, past possibly this is an issue," Rotunno said. "If Erika Kirk was related to a prosecutor, they would person much crushed to basal on."

Typically, a authoritative tin beryllium recused oregon disqualified from a lawsuit if determination is simply a struggle of involvement that would jeopardize the defendant’s close to a just trial. With specified a high-profile shooting astatine a nationalist lawsuit successful a tiny town, the transportation whitethorn not beryllium truthful unusual.

"The ineligible strategy takes conflicts of involvement seriously, but a authoritative isn’t automatically disqualified conscionable due to the fact that idiosyncratic successful their household witnessed a traumatic lawsuit connected to the case," said Randolph Rice, a Baltimore-based lawyer and ineligible analyst. "The cardinal contented is whether that narration creates a existent hazard that decisions are being driven by emotion alternatively of evidence."

Courts usually necessitate "a clear, nonstop struggle that threatens the defendant’s close to a just trial" earlier disqualifying an full prosecutor’s bureau from a case, helium said.

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"At the aforesaid time, prosecutors besides person a work to debar adjacent the quality of impropriety, particularly successful a high-profile superior lawsuit wherever nationalist spot is already connected edge," helium said.

The superior lawsuit is arsenic high-stakes arsenic it tin get for a defence team, and if Robinson’s lawyers are successful, caller prosecutors connected the lawsuit whitethorn person antithetic views astir the decease penalty, helium said.

Charlie Kirk speaks earlier helium is assassinated during Turning Point's sojourn to Utah Valley University successful Orem, Utah, connected Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

"I person had cases successful the past wherever we had to bring successful a antithetic authoritative due to the fact that we were prosecuting an idiosyncratic who was tangentially related to an worker successful the office," helium said. "Also had situations wherever we had to bring successful antithetic judges from antithetic jurisdictions who were unfamiliar with a lawyer's household subordinate who was being prosecuted."

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However, there’s besides the accidental that national prosecutors adhd caller charges to marque definite the imaginable decease punishment remains connected the table.

"Getting this authoritative oregon prosecutor's bureau kicked disconnected the lawsuit opens the anticipation of a antithetic authorities bureau coming successful and evaluating this lawsuit otherwise and perchance not seeking the decease punishment — which would beryllium a immense triumph for Tyler Robinson's squad and for him," helium said.

The authorities countered that the authoritative successful question does not person a idiosyncratic struggle of involvement — and that adjacent if helium did, it would not widen to the full office. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray, who campaigned for bureau connected a level of seeking the decease punishment wherever due and justified, besides argued that the lawman prosecutor’s transportation to a witnesser played nary relation successful his determination to record a announcement of intent to question superior punishment against Robinson.

ERIKA KIRK HAS ‘NOTHING TO SAY’ TO THE MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HER HUSBAND

Thousands of different radical saw the murder, according to tribunal filings, and prosecutors don’t request to trust connected the relative, who they added had nary idiosyncratic cognition of "the existent murder." The big kid had nary nonstop enactment of show to the rooftop sniper’s perch, lone to wherever Kirk was sitting, according to a prosecution filing.

Defense lawyer Richard Novak, top, speaks with Utah County Attorney’s Office wide counsel Christopher Ballard, right, during a proceeding for Tyler Robinson, accused of murdering Charlie Kirk, successful Fourth District Court successful Provo, Utah, connected Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)

During the chaos, however, the witnesser was texting with family, including the prosecutor.

"CHARLIE GOT SHOT," work 1 harrowing message.

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Judge Tony Graf volition perceive arguments connected the lawsuit astatine 1 p.m. MT.

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.