A Utah judge has denied a defense request to force Tyler Robinson's former roommate and romantic partner to take the stand in person at next month's preliminary hearing, a ruling that strips the defense of a chance to challenge the witness's credibility before trial.
District Judge Tony Graf issued the decision in Fourth District Court, finding that the defense will have its opportunity to confront the witness later. Robinson, 23, faces aggravated murder charges in the September 10 shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Graf's reasoning leaned on established Utah law. He wrote that preliminary hearings serve a narrow purpose and do not function as full trials.
"The Utah Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that a preliminary hearing is not a trial on the merits, but a gateway to the finder of fact."
The ruling means credibility challenges against the witness can come later, at trial, but will not slow down the preliminary hearing now set to begin in July. AP News first reported the judge's decision alongside a separate postponed ruling on whether prosecutors should face sanctions for public comments about ballistic evidence.
The witness at the center of this fight is Lance Twiggs, Robinson's transgender roommate and lover, who earlier this year received limited immunity from prosecutors. As CLN previously reported, Twiggs gave a recorded statement to prosecutors on April 20 under a "use-immunity" agreement, meaning the statement itself cannot be used against Twiggs in any future prosecution.
The immunity deal and the fight over Twiggs's testimony matter because of what Robinson allegedly left for Twiggs before the shooting. The Washington Examiner reported that Robinson wrote a note to Twiggs explaining he "had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk" on September 19, 2025, and that he had been planning the shooting for more than a week.
Robinson also instructed Twiggs to ask for a lawyer if questioned by police after the shooting. That detail alone could carry weight at trial, suggesting Robinson anticipated law enforcement scrutiny and tried to manage it through his closest confidant.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray has publicly described other evidence painting a picture of premeditation. Gray revealed that Robinson sent a text message stating, "I had enough of his hatred." Separately, prosecutors disclosed a pre-shooting note in which Robinson wrote that he had the opportunity to kill "one of the nation's leading conservative voices" and added, "I'm going to take it."
The case against Robinson extends well beyond written statements. DNA consistent with Robinson's was found on the rifle trigger, a fired cartridge casing, and two unfired cartridges, linking him directly to the weapon used in Kirk's death. That forensic evidence, combined with the text messages and the handwritten note, forms the backbone of the prosecution's aggravated murder charge.
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester has pushed back on the pace of the proceedings. At a hearing last fall, she requested more time to review what she described as voluminous evidence. Newsmax reported that Nester cited the sheer volume of material as justification for the delay, and the court set a subsequent hearing for October 30. Prosecutors have turned over more than 600,000 files to the defense.
The scale of the evidence dump has become a recurring theme. Robinson's defense team has argued that the flood of material makes it impossible to prepare adequately under the court's timeline, a complaint that has not moved Graf to push back the July preliminary hearing.
The ruling on Twiggs's testimony is only the latest in a series of defense setbacks. Graf previously rejected a motion to ban news cameras from the courtroom, a decision that ensures the five-day July preliminary hearing will be filmed and available for live streaming. As CLN covered at the time, that ruling kept the proceedings open over strong defense objections.
Robinson's defense team also sought to block the public from hearing testimony or seeing exhibits that might later be found inadmissible at trial. A second motion asked the court to sanction prosecutors for doing media interviews after the defense questioned ballistics testing in court documents. Fox News detailed both motions in its coverage of the pretrial hearing.
Legal analyst Randolph Rice explained why preliminary hearings often feature evidence that would never reach a jury. "A preliminary hearing is not a trial, so prosecutors are often permitted to introduce certain evidence, hearsay statements, police summaries, or investigative details that may never be admissible before the actual trial jury," Rice said.
Criminal defense attorney Kriti Sharma offered a different lens, arguing that Kirk's assassination "affected the entire country" and that the proceedings should remain "as public as possible." That view aligns with Graf's consistent rulings favoring transparency.
The five-day preliminary hearing is expected to be the most consequential public proceeding in the case so far. Prosecutors plan to present their strongest evidence, and the Daily Mail reported that the hearing will test whether the state can establish probable cause to send Robinson to trial on the aggravated murder charge.
Graf outlined several tools still available to protect Robinson's right to a fair trial despite the public nature of the hearing. Those tools include enlarging the pool of potential jurors, using detailed juror questionnaires, and conducting thorough voir dire, the process by which attorneys question prospective jurors for bias.
Investigators have not publicly confirmed whether additional suspects or persons of interest are under scrutiny. Authorities also have not said whether Twiggs's recorded statement contained information beyond what has already been disclosed in court filings. Those gaps may narrow once prosecutors lay out their case in July.
The defense's losing streak on pretrial motions has not slowed Robinson's legal team from fighting on every available front. Whether that strategy reflects genuine constitutional concerns or an effort to delay and exhaust the prosecution remains an open question heading into the summer.
The Kirk assassination stands apart from routine criminal cases. A political figure was gunned down on a college campus, allegedly by someone who left behind written evidence of ideological motivation. The text messages, the note to a lover, the DNA on the trigger: all of it will be tested under oath next month.
Robinson's defense team has fought to seal evidence and limit public access at nearly every turn. Graf has said no at nearly every turn. That pattern tells its own story about how this court views the public's right to watch justice work.
When cameras roll in July, the country will see whether the evidence matches the charges. For conservatives who watched one of their most prominent voices silenced by a bullet, nothing less than full transparency will do.
