Defense Team Seeks to Remove Utah County Prosecutors from Charlie Kirk Assassination Case

[00:01] s

[00:01] been filed in that case. New at

[00:04] 10:00, the first major

[00:05] development in the Tyler

[00:06] Robinson case could have a huge

[00:08] impact on how it moves forward.

[00:10] >> Robinson is accused of

[00:11] assassinating Charlie Kirk

[00:12] during a rally at Utah Valley

[00:14] University in September.

[00:16] Robinson's defense team now

[00:17] wants the judge to remove the

[00:19] entire Utah County Attorney's

[00:20] office from the case. They

[00:22] argue a family connection to

[00:24] someone who saw the shooting

[00:25] could compromise the

[00:27] prosecutor's ability to handle

[00:28] the death penalty case fairly.

[00:30] >> Brian Mitchell joins us live

[00:31] with the very latest from Utah

[00:33] County tonight. Brian.

[00:36] >> Mark and Heidi, this is the

[00:37] first significant motion in

[00:38] this case and could set a major

[00:41] precedent for the future of

[00:41] this case and an impact on any

[00:44] potential jury pool.

[00:47] >> This is probably the tip of

[00:48] the iceberg.

[00:49] >> This newly unsealed.

[00:50] >> Court filing states a family

[00:52] member of a Utah county

[00:54] prosecutor was present at UVU

[00:56] when Charlie Kirk was killed in

[00:59] September.

[00:59] >> Just a life goes out of his

[01:01] eyes. I remember falling to the

[01:04] ground.

[01:05] >> That witness was not

[01:07] identified, but was one of

[01:08] thousands, like 15 year old

[01:10] Carter Lloyd who witnessed the

[01:12] shooting.

[01:13] >> I just remember thinking

[01:15] like, am I going to die? Or are

[01:18] they going to keep on shooting?

[01:20] >> This motion says the

[01:21] prosecutor received real time

[01:23] texts from the family member

[01:25] during the shooting and shared

[01:27] them within the office,

[01:29] including with County Attorney

[01:31] Jeffrey Gray, former prosecutor

[01:33] turned defense attorney Nathan

[01:35] Evershed says the prosecutors

[01:37] told the defense team about

[01:39] this, which led them to file

[01:41] this motion to disqualify the

[01:45] entire Utah County DA's office.

[01:47] >> It's the first full blown

[01:49] motion in this case, the first

[01:50] of many. It has to be litigated.

[01:53] Brian.

[01:53] >> How much of a claim does the

[01:54] defense have when it comes to

[01:56] this?

[01:56] >> The defense makes a

[01:57] compelling argument to the

[01:58] degree that it's a family

[02:00] member of someone that is in

[02:02] that that's within that office

[02:04] that witnessed this, and this

[02:05] was a tragedy and is very

[02:07] impactful. On the other hand,

[02:09] the state is saying this

[02:10] witness is not significant to

[02:12] the prosecution of this case,

[02:13] and this witness is not having

[02:16] an impact on the overall

[02:19] preparation of this case.

[02:22] >> Now, Evershed does tells me

[02:23] a judge will decide this, and

[02:25] he has three options when it

[02:26] comes to his. He could agree

[02:28] with the state or agree with

[02:30] the defense or partially agree

[02:32] with both. And that could

[02:34] affect a potential jury pool,

[02:36] because any of them could have

[02:37] potential relatives that were

[02:39] there that day and witness that

[02:41] shooting. The hearing for this

[02:42] will be on January 16th is when

[02:44] the judge will hear this in

[02:46] Utah County. Brian will KUTV 2

[02:48] News.

[02:49] >> All right. Brian, thanks.

[02:50] Utah County taxpayers currently

[02:52] footing the bill for three

[02:53] capital murder cases. Tyler

[02:55] Robinson accused cop killer

[02:57] Michael Jane, longtime death

[02:59] row inmate Douglas Carter, all

[03:00] three cases costing taxpayers

[03:02] millions of dollars to

[03:05] prosecute. We've covered the

[03:06] case of Tyler Robinson

[03:07] extensively. From breaking news

[03:09] the day of the shooting to the

[03:10] manhunt for Robinson, to his

[03:11] eventual arrest and the

[03:13] complications in his death

[03:14] penalty trial thus far, you can