No Trial Date Yet in Charlie Kirk Killing as Defense Seeks 2029 and Prosecutors Propose January 2028

A Utah judge on Friday declined to set a trial date for Tyler Robinson, the man charged in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, after three hours of arguments over how much time the defense needs to prepare a death penalty case, the Deseret News and KUER reported.

Fourth District Judge Tony Graf said he had intended to rule Friday but needed time to consider the issues raised by the parties. "I am not going to run back into my office and type quickly and kick something out," Graf said, according to the Deseret News. He set Nov. 9 to issue a ruling and asked both sides to submit their upcoming trial schedules so he can find dates when all attorneys are available.

Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder and six other counts in the Sept. 10, 2025, fatal shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University, according to the Deseret News. He has pleaded not guilty, and he could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, according to The Associated Press, as published by NBC News. The AP reported that Robinson turned himself in a day after the shooting and that his lawyers have not offered alternative theories for Kirk's death.

Graf said the case is a priority and that he is "concerned" about protecting Robinson's right to a speedy trial. "I will always be concerned about Mr. Robinson's constitutional rights," he said. "That's my job."

The defense asked the court to consider targeting the third quarter of 2029 for the start of trial. "Based on the current status of this case, the court might consider targeting the start of a capital trial, the third quarter of 2029," Robinson's attorneys wrote, estimating that each phase of a capital trial would take six to seven months, according to KUER. Defense attorney Staci Visser told the court that the team must process about 31,000 files in discovery and is roughly a quarter of the way through, which she said would realistically take another year.

"It is not as if we're sitting idly by," Visser said, according to the Deseret News, adding that because the case involves a possible death sentence, "there is more that we are constitutionally required to do and it requires more time." She called setting a date now "premature" and said, "The reality is rushing to trial does not lead to closure. It does not lead to finality. It leads to mistakes." The defense said Robinson is "completely on board" with its timeline.

In a filing Wednesday, defense lawyers wrote that predicting when the case will be ready "is an exercise that, at this time, will necessarily be infected with false precision," the AP reported. They said they must investigate Robinson's life in search of mitigating factors that could influence a sentence.

Prosecutors from the Utah County Attorney's Office said they would be ready by October 2027 but proposed a Jan. 31, 2028, start to avoid holding the trial over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, according to the AP and the Deseret News. Prosecutor Chad Grunander said long holiday breaks and family gatherings could heighten "the risk of juror misconduct," and the defense agreed that the end of the year is a difficult time for jury trials. Prosecutors estimated the trial would take 85 days, or 17 five-day weeks, according to KUER.

"Even though death differs from any other type of punishment ... the same due process standards apply throughout this case as they would in any other case," prosecutor Christopher Ballard said, according to the Deseret News.

Jeffrey Neiman, an attorney for Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, asked the court to reject the defense timeline and set the trial as soon as possible. The day before the hearing, Erika Kirk's attorneys called the defense's proposal "absurd" and said Robinson was trying to delay, according to the AP. "Under the Defendants' proposed schedule, Mr. Kirk's two children, who were one and three at the time he was murdered, will be six and eight years old by the time the trial concludes," Neiman wrote. In court, he said, "Justice delayed this long stops being justice for the Kirk family," according to the Deseret News.

Jury selection is expected to be a major issue. The defense wants as much as two months to pick jurors, citing "the significant level of pretrial publicity and social-political discourse" the case has generated, while the state asked for no more than 20 days, KUER reported. Both sides agreed that 3,000 questionnaires would be enough to send to potential jurors. The defense is also still considering whether to seek a change of venue, citing the court's proximity to Utah Valley University.

Earlier this year, Graf declined a defense request to remove the death penalty as a sanction over prosecutors' public comments, saying instead that he would consider expanding jury selection, according to KUER. Hours before Friday's hearing, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Graf was "doing a terrible job" and "desecrating" Kirk's memory, the station reported.