Charlie Kirk murder accused Tyler Robinson’s lawyers have urged the court to allow him to wear regular clothes instead of suicide smock and appear without shackles during in-person hearings.
Tyler Robinson, 22, is scheduled to appear in court on October 30.
This comes after the defence team formally requested a Utah judge to ban cameras and video recordings during all court proceedings.
Tyler’s lawyers argued that media scrutiny has “polluted the waters of justice” as the coverage focuses on his jail appearance and demeanour instead of the facts of the case.
A 20-page motion submitted by the defence argues that viral social media posts and overwhelming media coverage have created a “content tornado”, severely risking bias. This, they claimed, would jeopardise Tyler’s constitutional right to an impartial trial.
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The defence claimed that the publicity through media has already “exceeded” their previous apprehensions about the jurors seeing the accused in prison clothing and thereby giving a perception that he is guilty.
However, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office disagreed with the defence’s argument, saying Robinson is being restrained due to security concerns. They also proposed remote court appearances to alleviate publicity concerns.
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Earlier, Randall Spencer, a senior criminal defence lawyer with experience in homicide cases, told Fox News Digital, that the evidence should be kept confidential to protect the jury pool. “If the prosecutor or the defence is leaking quote-unquote evidence to the public… that may inhibit Tyler’s right to a fair trial,” he added.
Pre-trial secrecy will stop the jurors from forming opinions based on misleading or unofficial information, he said.
