Overview
- At a Friday hearing in Provo, Judge Tony Graf heard arguments on a defense motion to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office from the case; no ruling was announced.
- Defense lawyers say an 18-year-old child of a deputy county attorney was at the Utah Valley University event and texted about the shooting, which they argue taints prosecutorial decisions, including the swift notice to seek death.
- Prosecutors counter that there is no conflict because the student did not witness the shooting, is not a material witness, and that filing a death-penalty notice before the preliminary hearing is routine and justified.
- Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder and related counts, prosecutors cite DNA on a recovered rifle and a handwritten note, and he has not yet entered a plea.
- A three-day preliminary hearing is set to begin May 18, and separate reporting indicates Robinson’s roommate and partner, Lance Twiggs, who has cooperated and is not charged, is no longer under FBI protection.