LIVE UPDATES: Testimony resumes on day 3 of Tyler Robinson preliminary hearing in Charlie Kirk murder case

Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing is underway this week in Provo, Utah. Robinson faces 10 charges, including aggravated murder, in connection to the death of Charlie Kirk. During a preliminary hearing, a judge will decide if there is sufficient probable cause to go to trial on the charges levied against a defendant.

4:29 p.m. Judge Graf asks him to write a short brief about his argument so he can give it full consideration. Novak agrees. The state says they will do the same. Court has ended, and is expected to restart tomorrow at 9 a.m.

4:26 p.m. Hunt says she will redact the video and show the allowable parts in court tomorrow. She asks that court end for the day and proceed tomorrow. The defense agrees, and says there is one more exhibit that they believe the state will offer through Agent Davis that they want redacted. It is five screenshots from Twiggs’ phone.

4:22 p.m. Judge Graf says his final ruling will be that the video will not be shown to the public from 6:56 to 20:27 and from 32:55 until 35:48. “I recognize the importance of transparency. I also recognize the balancing the importance of constitutional rights, and it is a fine line.” Graf says much of the video that will not be published is dialogue about the text messages, which will likely be shown separately.

4:20 p.m. Novak says that “Publicizing what the state calls a confession” would violate Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

4:17 p.m. Novak speaks again, saying that he respects the Kirk family, but he thinks the publication of the video during the preliminary hearing would violate Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

4:15 p.m. The Kirk family attorney, Jeff Neiman, is speaking. He says the Kirk family believes that if the evidence is being admitted, “it should be made public for the world to see with no reductions.”

4:13 p.m. The media attorney argues that if something important to the case isn’t released to the public, it makes it seem as if there is something in there that someone doesn’t want to be seen by the public.

4:10 p.m. The attorney for the media argues that if this is a key consideration in the case, it should be public according to Utah case law.

4:08 p.m. Judge Graf says from 6:56 until 20:27, will also not be published, but they will be admitted for the judge to consider.

3:59 p.m. The parties have reiterated their positions to the judges again. Hunt is arguing again that the audio should be played for the media, but not the video. This section of the hearing has been very repetitive and technical.

3:52 p.m. Novak says he believes the state is going to claim that Robinson confessed to Twiggs. He says he would not say it is a confession. “We are concerned that the publication beyond this courts eyes of what the state will call confessions at trial violates Mr. Robinsons due process rights, right here, now today.”

3:48 p.m. Novak says he thinks a closed hearing is appropriate to play the redacted parts of the video. He also says there aer statements in the video by Twiggs that are attributed to Robinson. He says there are other exhibits where Twiggs quotes things that Robinson allegedly said.

3:45 p.m. Graf has ruled that an end portion of the video and audio will not be published, from 32:55 to 35:48.

3:43 p.m. Judge Graf says pages 19 and 20 of the transcript contain irrelevant information, so he does not want to rule on that yet.

3:39 p.m. Court is back in session. The judge says he was taking time to watch the video and review the proposed redactions. The judge has overruled some of the redactions and allowed others.

3:36 p.m. Still waiting for court to resume. We will update as soon as they come back!

3:06 p.m. Still waiting for the court to resume…looks like it’s longer than a fifteen-minute break.

2:40 p.m. Novak tells the court that this should be handled in a sidebar, because “the whole point is to protect my client’s right to a fair trial” and if they do it in an open hearing, it’s a “self defeating exercise.” The judge says a sidebar is still public because the transcript can be obtained, so Novak asks for a “very brief closed hearing.” The court is now taking a fifteen-minute break.

2:28 p.m. The media attorney says closing the hearing is “simply a non starter.” He asks the judge to keep the hearing open because the public has a right to know what is going on.

2:36 p.m. The media attorney says the public should be allowed to see anything that the state is basing its case on, including the interview video of Twiggs. He says it appears to be “a critical piece of information” based on how hard everyone is arguing over it.

2:34 p.m. Hunt is speaking again, explaining that she is not clear on what the defense’s objections to the transcript are. Hunt invites the media attorney to argue whether or not to close the hearing to decide whether the evidence can be showed to the cameras or not. Novak disagrees, and says sidebars are not available to the public. The media attorney says it wouldn’t be a sidebar.

2:28 p.m. Novak says if the audio is played in front of the cameras, it will interfere with Robinson’s right to a fair trial. The judge says it is not his job to interfere with the parties, and seems a little offended by Novak’s insinuation that he should tell the parties how to argue the case.

2:25 p.m. Novak says there are portions of Twiggs’ interview that are not relevant and are inadmissible. He also does not want it to be broadcasted.

2:18 p.m. Defense attorney Richard Novak says they have given the state their transcript ahead of time, so they could make sure it was accurate. Novak says the video includes Twiggs talking about things that haven’t been mentioned in the hearings yet, including text messages and a group chat.

2:13 p.m. Hunt says because the interview is recorded, it should not be captured by cameras in the courtroom so it’s not able to be shared online. She wants the audio to be heard, but the video only to be seen in the courtroom, and not by the cameras.

2:10 p.m. Hunt says the defense provided them with 11 pages of redactions from a 21 page transcript of the video, a day and a half ago.

2:06 p.m. Hunt says she is aware that the defense has issue with her playing Twigg’s recorded interview, so she is asking that they discuss it now to determine if it can be played in court.

2:04 p.m. Davis says the bullet was a live round. A new topic, Hunt asks Davis about Lance Twiggs. Davis says he is the roommate of Tyler Robinson, and was interviewed twice, once on Sept 12 and again on April 20, 2026. Investigators took a bucle swab from him and seized his phone. Davis says Twiggs was given “Use Immunity” which he says is when a person is given, during a limited time of their statement, immunity from statements that are made in regard to an incident. It does not preclude them from prosecution.

2 p.m. Davis says the computer science building is east of the auditorium where Kirk was sitting during the event. Davis says there would not a been a line of sight to where Kirk’s tent was from where the bullet was.

1:58 p.m. We have moved on from the statement, and we do not know what it said. Davis says at the scene of Kirk’s death, a bullet was found on the roof of the computer science building on the far east side.

1:56 p.m. The prosecutor says they do not want to publish the statement to the courtroom gallery or the cameras.

1:52 p.m. Davis says Mitchell gave a second statement to investigators on March 31, 2026. Mitchell handwrote a statement, which took him about an hour to write. Hunt brings up an exhibit, showing the statement. We cannot read it or see it on on the screen.

1:48 p.m. Davis says Robinson’s home and his parents home were both searched on Sept. 12 after search warrants were obtained. Davis was not present for the searches, but says Robinson lived with another person in his home. Back to the night of Robinson turning himself in, Davis says Mike Mitchell is a close family friend to the Robinsons, who helped facilitate working with Robinson’s parents to turn him into law enforcement.

1:46 p.m. Davis says that before they arrived in St. George, Robinson’s cell phone was seized. After his arrest, officers also took his clothing, swabbed his DNA, and took his fingerprints. Davis says he was the booking officer for Robinson’s arrest.

1:44 p.m. On the screen, we see Robinson in a red shirt and a baseball cap walk into the room and stand by the door. The video then goes black.

1:42 p.m. Hunt says it is a redacted version of the video. In the video, Robinson is waiting for investigators. Defense attorney Brut says the sides have agreed to show the video without audio.

1:39 p.m. Davis says law enforcement also spoke with Robinson’s mother, father, and their family friend, Mike Mitchell. Davis interviewed Tyler’s mother, and other agents interviewed the father and Mitchell. After the interviews, Robinson was formally arrested at the sheriff’s office around 4 a.m. on Sept. 12. Prosecutor Hunt is showing a video of an interrogation room on the screen.

1:36 p.m. Davis says he went to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, where he met with other investigators. They began discussing how they should handle the situation when a suspect turns themselves in. Davis says the suspect came with his parents and a family friend to turn himself in. He identifies him as Tyler Robinson.

1:33 p.m. Davis says on Sept 11, 2025, he spent the day at the command post. Around 8:30 p.m., he received a phone call from a Sergeant asking that he travel to St. George due to information that someone was going to turn themself into police in regard to his involvement in the Charlie Kirk killing.

1:31 p.m. Davis says he is a case agent with Agent Dave Hull on the Charlie Kirk murder case. He says the State Bureau of Investigation is the primary investigating agency in the case. FBI, ATF, several local and state agencies, UVU police, Orem police, Utah county sheriff, Washington county sheriff, and the St. George County sheriff have also been involved.

1:28 p.m. The prosecution is asking Davis to go over his career history. He has an extensive background in law enforcement. Davis says he has been part of 60+ homicide investigations. He says he also works on a cold case unit.

1:24 p.m. The monitors and screen seem to be working now. The prosecution has called Agent Brian Davis with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation to the stand.

1:22 p.m. There are technological issues with the screen to show evidence. The content on the screen doesn’t seem to be showing up on the counsels’ monitors.

1:19 p.m. Judge Graf is asking that the screen be moved so everyone in the courtroom can see the digital evidence in an effort to increase transparency.

1:13 p.m. Prosecutor Ryan McBride is addressing an issue regarding the admission of multiple exhibits.

1:10 p.m. Judge Graf has asked each side to explain what the rest of their arguments will entail. Prosecutor Gurmander says Agent Brian Davis is expected to testify today. He expects one more witness after that before he will be done calling witnesses. Defense attorney Michael Burt says they will have two more witnesses, both from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

1:07 p.m. The judge reminds everyone that electronic devices are not allowed in the courtroom. He also reminds everyone that all spectators shall remain “quiet, civil and orderly at all times.”

1:05 p.m. There seems to be audio issues in the courtroom.

1 p.m. Court is expected to start soon. A new witness is expected to be called first thing.

12:45 p.m. Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com taking over for Nate today! He is in the courtroom, but laptops, phones and smart watches are not allowed, so I will be doing the live updates today.