The public will be able to see the transcript of a closed-door October hearing in the case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. But not all of it.
For safety reasons, part of the record will be redacted. However, the scope of those redactions is smaller than what Robinson’s defense team had requested.
“The public has a presumptive right to access court records,” Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf said in his Dec. 29 oral ruling. “That right, however, is not absolute. To support and achieve certain interests and objectives, a court may close portions or entire court records.”
The two-hour Oct. 24 hearing, which happened before Robinson’s first in-person court appearance, dealt with whether he could wear civilian clothes and court security protocols. Originally, his defense team asked to make records of the meeting ‘private,’ meaning only the parties and their lawyers could view them. Prosecutors and defense later came back with an updated request, asking for a list of redactions.
Lawyers representing a group of local and national media outlets, including KUER, urged the judge to deny that request — arguing that the short justifications for redacting, just two or three words each, didn’t meet the constitutional standard for keeping information from the public. The media lawyers asked for the transcript to be released with limited redactions.
The state, defense and media lawyers argued about the transcript issue before Judge Graf in another two-hour closed-door hearing on Dec. 11.
Graf described the redactions as limited and narrowly tailored in his ruling. The transcript, which he said would be released later that same day, is 80 pages with 246 words redacted, which, the judge said, equates to about one page. After the transcript is released, a redacted audio recording of the hearing will also be made public in a couple of weeks.
Graf denied some of the defense's requests, stating, “Privacy interests do not outweigh the public's interest in this case.” He added that some of the information the defense wanted to redact has already been made public.
The ones he deemed necessary dealt with security.
“This case generates extraordinary ongoing national and international attention — some of which is threatening in nature to the parties, the representatives and non-party participants,” Graf said. “The safety and well-being of all involved in this matter outweighs the interests of the public that are served by open court records.”
Graf also ruled on the media’s request about its standing in the case. Their attorneys asked to be notified of any request that would limit the public’s access to proceedings so that they could be present to argue them. To do this, attorneys requested that media outlets be an intervenor in the case with limited status.
In denying that request, Graf said the media doesn’t need to be a party to fight for the public’s right to access. There is already a way to do that in the court’s rules. But he reiterated that whenever state prosecutors and Robinson’s defense lawyers ask to make a hearing or record private, they must alert media outlets and submit proof of that notification to the court.
When it comes to any request to limit electronic media coverage — like a ban on cameras in the courtroom, which defense lawyers have said they will continue advocating for — the parties aren’t required to notify the news media.
Robinson has been charged with seven counts in the Sept. 10 shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University, including aggravated murder. If convicted, prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
