Prosecutors in Utah County confirmed they intend to pursue capital punishment for Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with aggravated murder in the September 10 assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, per CBS.
The indictment also includes firearm offenses, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, with aggravating factors such as committing a violent crime in the presence of children.
The case immediately places Robinson among the most high-profile defendants facing Utah’s rarely used death penalty.
State law permits the death penalty only in aggravated murder cases and mandates that prosecutors file a formal notice before the trial if they plan to pursue it. If Robinson is found guilty, jurors must unanimously decide on a death sentence during a separate penalty phase, as explained in the legal blog of Overson & Budgen, PLLC Law Offices.
While Utah most often carries out executions by lethal injection, it is one of the few states that still permits the firing squad.
Under current law, inmates sentenced before May 2004 could choose the method, while more recent cases default to lethal injection unless the required drugs are unavailable. In 2010, Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad, and earlier this year, officials executed Taberon Honie by lethal injection — the first execution in the state in 14 years.
A firing squad was scheduled for September 5, when death row inmate Ralph Menzies was set to be executed for a 1980s murder. However, the execution was put on hold when the Utah Supreme Court allowed for competency to be re-assessed, the Utah News Dispatch reported.
Jared Garcia, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections, reportedly said that the department remains prepared to carry out executions “in a professional and respectful manner.”
Protocols for firing squad executions call for five peace officers armed with .30-caliber rifles, one of which contains blank rounds to shield the identity of the shooter who does not fire live ammunition.
Robinson, who surrendered to police on September 11 after a roughly day-long manhunt, appeared virtually in court this week. His new defense team, led by longtime Utah attorney Kathryn Nester, has requested additional time to review what they described as “voluminous” evidence, according to Newsweek. The next hearing is scheduled for October 30.
According to the indictment, Robinson allegedly planned the attack on Kirk for more than a week, preparing ammunition, hiding clothing, and directing his lover/roommate to delete incriminating messages. Prosecutors claim he deliberately targeted Kirk due to his political views.
If convicted, Robinson faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
“The method of execution for the defendant is the firing squad if the sentencing court determines the state is unable to lawfully obtain the substance or substances necessary to conduct an execution by lethal intravenous injection 30 or more days before the date specified in the warrant issued upon a judgment of death,” per Utah State Law.
States sometimes incur trouble trying to carry out lethal injections. “In 2021, South Carolina passed a law that would allow for the use of the firing squad in state executions. This legislation was partially motivated by the state’s inability to obtain lethal injection drugs,” per the Death Penalty Information Center website.
In the early to mid-2010s, Utah also struggled to acquire lethal injection drugs, spurring renewed interest in firing squads as a mode of execution, NPR reported.
Utah’s use of capital punishment has been a long-standing topic of debate. The state was the first to resume executions after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, when it executed Gary Gilmore by firing squad the following year.
Judge Tony Graf emphasized at Robinson’s latest hearing that the defendant “sits before this court presumed innocent, and that presumption remains unless and until each element of every offense charged against him is proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” per CBS.