A Utah judge shut down a request by Tyler Robinson’s defense to make his former roommate and romantic partner testify in person at the upcoming preliminary hearing.
Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder in the killing of political influencer Charlie Kirk, has yet to enter a plea in the case.
When Kirk was fatally shot last September, Robinson was allegedly living with Lance Twiggs in St. George. In his ruling, Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf used the name Lance Twiggs and he/him pronouns. The defense, however, in its filings states that Twiggs’s chosen name is “Luna” and uses she/her pronouns. Twiggs has since moved out of state.
According to prosecutors, Twiggs allegedly told investigators after the shooting that Robinson admitted to Kirk’s murder. At the upcoming preliminary hearing, scheduled for July 6-10, prosecutors plan to show a recorded statement from Twiggs given under oath in April. State and federal prosecutors gave Twiggs “use-immunity,” meaning those statements can’t be used against Twiggs in the future.
The upcoming hearing is procedural to demonstrate probable cause and will give the public more insight into what evidence the state has to make its case against Robinson.
The defense wanted to subpoena Twiggs to testify in person at the hearing rather than the recorded statement. That would allow the defense the opportunity to cross-examine and try to undermine Twiggs’ credibility as a witness. Prosecutors opposed that motion, saying it wasn’t necessary at the preliminary hearing stage, which requires a lower burden of proof compared to the jury trial.
Graf denied the defense’s request to compel Twiggs to travel from out of state to testify at the preliminary hearing.
Graf read his written ruling aloud Monday and explained that the court is supposed to view evidence in a light favorable to the prosecution at the preliminary hearing. Additionally, the judge said he isn’t supposed to weigh in on the credibility of evidence or wade into the issue of conflicting evidence.
To grant the defense’s subpoena request, Graf said attorneys would’ve needed to show that Twiggs’s live testimony was needed to share specific evidence that could likely counter the prosecution’s ability to show probable cause at the preliminary hearing. But the judge said the defense hadn’t shown that.
The subpoena was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the defense could try again.
Graf also denied a defense motion to block the state from using hearsay to establish probable cause at the preliminary hearing. That’s when a person testifies about something that someone else told them.
Two other outstanding issues await rulings. Graf punted those to Friday because new arguments were filed late last week.
The first is whether prosecutors should be held in contempt of court for comments they made to media outlets about a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body. The defense has argued this violated the court’s restrictions on speaking about the case outside of the courtroom. Prosecutors say it was necessary to counter misinformation.
If prosecutors are found in contempt, the defense wants the death penalty taken off the table. Prosecutors said they planned to seek the death penalty if he is convicted when they filed the charges.
A ruling is also awaited on the defense’s request to ban cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Throughout this case, Robinson’s attorneys have repeatedly sought to prohibit cameras in the courtroom. Graf previously denied the defense’s request to have a blanket ban. The defense is now appealing that to the Utah Supreme Court.
