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PROVO, Utah — Prosecutors played a video clip in court Wednesday of suspect Tyler Robinson after he had turned himself in to Utah authorities a day after the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The video showed Robinson standing in a room at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap. There was no audio and it was unclear if he was interviewed by investigators while at the sheriff’s office.
An investigator says video shows Tyler Robinson going onto a roof to kill Charlie Kirk.
State District Judge Tony Graf will decide at the conclusion of this week’s hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge in Kirk’s fatal shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University in September.
Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs, was interviewed twice as part of the investigation, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis testified Wednesday. Twiggs, who was also Robinson’s romantic partner, was given immunity for the statements, meaning what he said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case, Davis said.
Robinson’s defense team objected to showing recordings of those interviews in open court.
MORE | Investigator says video shows defendant going onto roof to kill Charlie Kirk
His lawyers have said repeatedly this week that they are concerned about his right to a fair trial if evidence in the case is made public. Graf did not immediately rule on the request.
Prosecutors allege Robinson sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
On Tuesday, Robinson’s lawyers questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the suspected murder weapon.
A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found at the college campus, where Kirk was shot while speaking to a large crowd.
Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions.
“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt argued.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.
Prosecutors must show they have enough evidence for a trial
Forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.
DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science,” said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.
FBI analyst Amanda Bakker said that after Twiggs provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her tests and attribute all of the DNA to two people.
Investigators found the towel and suspected murder weapon – a bolt-action rifle with one spent round – in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.
DNA on the towel matched to two people, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified. One was Robinson’s roommate and the other was very likely Robinson, she said. Twiggs, a key figure in the prosecution’s case, will not testify in person this week, but prosecutors have said they plan to introduce a recorded statement.
Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
The defense team pushes back
Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event – an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution’s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.
During one of several appearances on campus on Sept. 10, the defendant went to the amphitheater where Kirk was later shot, State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull testified Tuesday. Hull said Robinson made contact with representatives of Turning Point USA, a group co-founded by Kirk that galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Trump win a second term.
The investigator did not detail what occurred during that interaction or if members of Kirk’s security team were present.
Robinson’s defense team pushed back Tuesday on the idea that he was hostile to Kirk’s politics. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA.
“This doesn’t say anything about Mr. Robinson’s state of mind,” Novak said about the statement from Turning Point USA board member David Engelhardt. “I don’t think that this court should be deciding – based on the record before it – where, if at all, politics and religion intersect.”
The judge ruled that the Turning Point statement was relevant and would be “provisionally admitted,” with a final decision later on.
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