PROVO, Utah (MSI) — A Utah judge on Friday found Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard in civil contempt for violating a pretrial publicity order by speaking to multiple news outlets about the high-profile murder case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. ruled in a virtual hearing that Ballard’s statements to TMZ, USA Today, PolitiFact and Fox News went beyond correcting public misinformation and amounted to improper commentary on Robinson’s guilt and the strength of the state’s case.
“Those additional public statements possessed a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceedings,” Graf said.
The judge declined the defense’s request to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment. Graf said he would consider addressing any potential taint from the comments during jury selection. He also ordered that the defense be allowed to recover its legal costs from the contempt proceedings.
Graf said Ballard “did not engage with the media out of a malicious desire to flout this court’s authority or to intentionally taint the jury pool,” but nonetheless concluded that sharing his opinion on the case crossed a legal line.
Robinson, 22, of Washington, Utah, is charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. He has not yet entered a plea. The charges stem from the September shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem.
The dispute that prompted Ballard’s media appearances centered on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was “unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson,” according to court filings. Ballard told reporters the ATF’s findings were inconclusive and that the bullet had not been excluded from the rifle — characterizing the agency’s report as inconclusive rather than exculpatory.
Some tabloids had reported that the bullet did not come from Robinson’s rifle and that he had been framed, according to news reports.
The case continues to generate intense public interest, with prior hearings addressing whether to ban courtroom cameras, seal evidence, and disqualify prosecutors over an alleged conflict of interest. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July.