Lawyers for the man accused of assassinating conservative political activist Charlie Kirk are asking a judge to delay a pretrial hearing while they review a bullet analysis that could strengthen his defense.
In a court filing, Tyler Robinson’s defense team said an analysis by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) could not definitively connect a bullet fragment taken from Kirk’s autopsy to a rifle found near the scene of the crime.
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Kirk was shot and killed last September during an appearance at Utah Valley University.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for May, but he will be in court on April 17 for a hearing on a defense motion to ban cameras from the courtroom.
What happens now
The ATF’s report has not been released, but snippets included in court filings indicate the FBI is conducting more tests.
The defense says it needs time to review those results, as well as the ATF’s.
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The success of a forensic ballistics analysis largely depends on the size and condition of the bullet fragments, according to The Associated Press.
“Until the defense receives the case files and protocols relating to these analyses, and has them independently evaluated by its expert, they will not be in a position to assess the reliability of this evidence if either the State or the defense decides to proffer it,” the filing says.
The defense suggested they’ll try to use the analysis results to clear Robinson during a preliminary hearing.
The other evidence
Prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to proceed despite the inconclusive bullet analysis.
They say DNA found on the rifle’s trigger, a spent shell casing and two unfired bullets link Robinson to the gun. The defense argues DNA from multiple people was found on some of the evidence, which they say require further analysis.
Robinson also reportedly texted his romantic partner, admitting to killing Kirk. Robinson reportedly said he’d “had enough of his [Kirk’s] hatred.”
Defense filings from last Friday said they need more time before the preliminary hearing, because they have to comb through 31 hours of audio files, 700 hours of video files and 600,000 data files, all of which they just received this month. They estimate it will take them 60 days to determine what is missing and to prepare for the hearing.
