{"id":2539861,"date":"2026-01-16T21:36:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors-8\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T21:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:37:42","slug":"utah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah County accuses Tyler Robinson of &#8216;ambush&#8217; effort to disqualify prosecutors"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors-8%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2539861&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Utah County prosecutors accused the defense for tyler Robinson of mounting an &#8220;ambush&#8221; bid to disqualify the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors-2\/\" title=\"... County accuses ... of &#039;...&#039; effort to ... ...\">entire county attorney&#8217;<\/a>s office from prosecuting the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, arguing the maneuver is a last-minute stalling tactic. Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting at a Utah Valley University event; prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.<\/p>\n<p>The defense asks that the state attorney general&#8217;s office take over,citing a potential conflict because an 18-year-old child of a deputy county attorney was in the crowd during the shooting and experienced the chaotic aftermath. Defense lawyers say that proximity (about 85 feet),the child leaving a backpack behind,and possible communications with the prosecutor could implicate Utah ethics rules and affect decisions such as pursuing capital punishment.<\/p>\n<p>Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray told judge Tony Graf the defense surprised the court by raising the issue without prior notice and urged that the county office should be allowed to defend its involvement unless a genuine conflict is shown. The defense, led by Richard Novak, countered that the concern is factual and not tactical, and urged Graf to have the attorney general handle the motion. Graf indicated the written filings alone were insufficient and that an evidentiary hearing would be needed to develop the record; he also rejected fully closing the hearing to the public, opting to address restrictions witness by witness. Testimony was set to begin with Gray as a witness, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for May.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Utah County accuses Tyler Robinson legal team of &lsquo;ambush&rsquo; effort to disqualify prosecutors<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2458561\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/utah\/\">Utah<\/a> County prosecutors blamed the legal team for the accused <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/charlie-kirk\/\">Charlie Kirk<\/a> killer Tyler Robinson on Friday of launching an &ldquo;ambush&rdquo; maneuver aimed at delaying the case and forcing local prosecutors off the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >high-profile murder prosecution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3805222\/antifascist-sayings-written-charlie-kirk-shooter-bullet-casings\/\">death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a> at an Utah Valley University event in Orem. The Utah County Attorney&rsquo;s Office has said it will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4422261\/kamala-harris-cites-renee-good-killing-mlk-day-speech-chicago\/\">Harris cites Renee Good killing in MLK Day speech: &lsquo;Sick and tired&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4422137\/trump-to-pardon-former-puerto-rico-governor-convicted-corruption-charges\/\">Trump to pardon former Puerto Rico governor convicted on corruption charges<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4421303\/tom-homan-offers-pull-ice-from-minneapolis-if-allowed-access-jails\/\">Tom Homan offers to pull ICE from Minneapolis &#8216;real quick&#8217; upon access to jails<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan\/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The defense is seeking to disqualify the entire Utah County Attorney&rsquo;s Office over what they say is a conflict of interest involving a prosecutor whose 18-year-old child attended the rally where Kirk was shot. Robinson&rsquo;s lawyers argue that the family connection and its emotional aftermath could have influenced internal decision-making, including the decision to pursue capital punishment, and are seeking the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pharmacist-blamed-for-deaths-in-us-meningitis-outbreak-will-plead-no-contest-in-michigan-case-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Pharmacist blamed for deaths in US meningitis outbreak will plead no contest in Michigan ... - Washington Examiner\">state attorney general&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s office to take over the case.<\/p>\n<p>But in a contentious hearing Friday, Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray told District Judge Tony Graf that Robinson&rsquo;s attorneys blindsided the court by raising a new procedural demand at the last minute instead of filing a notice to the court.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf presides over a hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Provo, Utah. (Rick Egan\/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure why this is coming before us today,&rdquo; Gray told the judge. &ldquo;If it was such a surprise to them more than a week ago, I don&rsquo;t know why they wouldn&rsquo;t at least notify the court.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He then went further, calling the defense strategy an &ldquo;ambush&rdquo; and &ldquo;another stalling tactic to delay these proceedings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray slams Tyler Robinson&rsquo;s defense counsel for attempting to disqualify fellow prosecutor from case: &ldquo;I think this is ambush and another stalling tactic.&rdquo; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HdJqYFaj3S\">pic.twitter.com\/HdJqYFaj3S<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TPostMillennial\/status\/2012266408290255213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>Gray argued that the defense is attempting to force the state&rsquo;s attorney general to step in without first making any meaningful showing that an actual conflict exists. He warned that accepting the defense&rsquo;s theory would allow defendants in serious cases to derail prosecutions simply by alleging a conflict and demanding a new set of lawyers to argue the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors told the court that until a judge finds a genuine disqualifying conflict, the office with statutory authority over the case should be able to defend its own involvement. Otherwise, Gray said, the process could be manipulated to run out the clock or shop for a more favorable prosecutor.<\/p>\n<p>Robinson&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utah-county-accuses-tyler-robinson-of-ambush-effort-to-disqualify-prosecutors\/\" title=\"... County accuses ... of &#039;...&#039; effort to ... ...\">attorneys pushed back sharply<\/a>, saying the issue is not a tactic but a legitimate concern raised by facts the county itself disclosed. Defense counsel said prosecutors informed them in October that the child of a deputy county attorney was present in the crowd when Kirk was shot and experienced the chaotic aftermath.<\/p>\n<p>The defense said the family member was roughly 85 feet from Kirk at the time of the shooting, fled amid panic, and left a backpack behind. They argue that those circumstances, along with possible communications between the prosecutor and his child, raise serious questions under Utah ethics rules that require further analysis.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is not about seeking a lenient prosecutor. This is not about tactics at all,&rdquo; defense attorney Richard Novak told the court.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Richard Novak, an attorney for Tyler Robinson, speaks during Robinson&rsquo;s hearing in 4th District Court on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Provo, Utah. (Rick Egan\/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Novak said the county attorneys would be improperly serving &ldquo;two masters&rdquo; by representing the state while simultaneously defending their own conduct to determine whether disqualification is warranted. He urged Graf to halt the proceedings and order the Utah Attorney General Derek Brown&rsquo;s office to handle the motion instead.<\/p>\n<p>The clash forced Graf to wrestle with a threshold question &mdash; whether the defense must first present evidence of a real conflict before the court can even consider handing the issue to the attorney general.<\/p>\n<p>Graf said he did not believe the defense&rsquo;s written filings alone were enough to make that determination. He indicated that some form of evidentiary hearing would be necessary to develop the record before he could decide whether any conflict actually exists.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the court also addressed a separate fight over whether the evidentiary portion of the hearing should be closed to the public because of safety and privacy concerns. Although both sides and attorneys for local media outlets agreed that closing the hearing might be appropriate, Graf declined to shut the hearing entirely, saying any restrictions would be handled witness by witness.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4363472\/judge-denies-media-intervene-access-tyler-robinson-trial\/\">JUDGE DENIES EFFORT FOR MEDIA TO INTERVENE FOR ACCESS TO TYLER ROBINSON TRIAL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With those preliminary disputes resolved, the case was poised to move into testimony Friday afternoon, with Gray himself expected to be the first witness. The judge called a brief recess to reorganize the courtroom as the proceedings shifted into the evidentiary phase.<\/p>\n<p>Robinson has not yet entered a plea. Prosecutors say text messages and DNA evidence link him to the killing and allege he targeted Kirk because he was tired of the activist&rsquo;s &ldquo;hatred.&rdquo; A preliminary hearing in the murder case is scheduled for May.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense &#8216;ambush&#8217; alleged to disqualify Utah prosecutors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2539862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26015844455422.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[71208,36913,5169,63207,71206],"class_list":["post-2539861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-disqualification-motion","tag-legal-ethics","tag-prosecutors","tag-tyler-robinson","tag-utah-county"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26015844455422.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2539861"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2539865,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539861\/revisions\/2539865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2539862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2539861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2539861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2539861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}