Utah
Judge rejects defense’s motion to disqualify prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk killing case
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah judge on Tuesday declined to disqualify the local county attorney’s office from prosecuting the accused shooter in Charlie Kirk’s killing after the defense argued there was a conflict of interest because a prosecutor’s daughter was present when Kirk was shot.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
Robinson’s attorneys urged the judge to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office because they allowed a deputy county attorney to work on the case despite knowing that his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot.
The defense also argued in court documents that prosecutors were quick to announce their intent to seek the death penalty, which they said was evidence of “strong emotional reactions” that merited disqualifying the entire team.
State District Judge Tony Graf ruled Tuesday that there is “not a significant risk” that Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander’s loyalty to his daughter will affect his work or interfere with Robinson’s rights.
“Prosecutors need not be immune to the emotional response of others to prosecute a case,” Graf said.
An estimated 3,000 people were at the outdoor rally to hear Kirk when he was struck while taking questions. A co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.
Grunander’s daughter, whose identity has not been disclosed to news media covering the case, testified in court that she did not record video of the shooting or the aftermath. She was looking at the crowd and did not learn until after she ran to safety that it was Kirk who had been shot, she told the court earlier this month.
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified this month that he thought about seeking the death penalty before an arrest had been made in the case, and his colleague’s daughter in no way influenced the decision.
Graf found that the daughter’s presence did not factor into Gray’s decision.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for attorneys with the defense and prosecution.
The director of a state council that trains prosecutors said Graf’s ruling was appropriate given the circumstances.
“Chad Grunander’s daughter is not going to be a witness. She didn’t actually see Mr. Kirk killed. She was facing away,” Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church said.
The judge has been weighing other issues of fairness for Robinson, should he go to trial.
Full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting have not been shown in court after defense attorneys objected out of concern that the footage would undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
Defense attorneys also seek to keep TV cameras and photographers out of the courtroom, arguing that “highly biased” news outlets risk tainting the case. Prosecutors, attorneys for news organizations and Kirk’s widow have urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.
The defense request to exclude cameras was classified by the court as private and has not been released.
On Monday, Graf granted a request from a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press to allow attorneys for the media to view defense requests to classify documents in the case. Graf said without access to those motions, media attorneys could not meaningfully argue against closing parts of the case from public view.
Washington
Court says IRS can continue to share immigrants’ taxpayer data with ICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Washington, D.C., federal court on Tuesday rejected a request from an immigrant rights group to temporarily block the IRS from sharing certain taxpayer data that could make it easier to identify and deport people who are in the U.S. illegally.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction for the immigrants’ rights group, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and other nonprofits that are suing the federal government over the data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The agreement allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.
In declining the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups “are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim,” since the information the agencies are sharing isn’t covered by the IRS privacy statute.
A representative from Centro de Trabajadores Unidos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the court decision was a “crucial victory” for the administration. “Deporting illegal aliens makes the American people safer,” Bondi said in her post.
The Trump administration has argued that the agreement helps carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations and workplace raids.
The creation of the data sharing agreement was so controversial that the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service resigned last year over the deal.
Earlier this month it was revealed in court filings that the IRS had erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agreement.
A declaration filed by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo stated that the IRS was only able to verify roughly 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested. For less than 5% of those individuals, the IRS gave ICE additional address information, potentially violating privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.
Judge rejects defense’s motion to disqualify prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk killing case
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah judge on Tuesday declined to disqualify the local county attorney’s office from prosecuting the accused shooter in Charlie Kirk’s killing after the defense argued there was a conflict of interest because a prosecutor’s daughter was present when Kirk was shot.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
Robinson’s attorneys urged the judge to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office because they allowed a deputy county attorney to work on the case despite knowing that his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot.
The defense also argued in court documents that prosecutors were quick to announce their intent to seek the death penalty, which they said was evidence of “strong emotional reactions” that merited disqualifying the entire team.
State District Judge Tony Graf ruled Tuesday that there is “not a significant risk” that Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander’s loyalty to his daughter will affect his work or interfere with Robinson’s rights.
“Prosecutors need not be immune to the emotional response of others to prosecute a case,” Graf said.
An estimated 3,000 people were at the outdoor rally to hear Kirk when he was struck while taking questions. A co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.
Grunander’s daughter, whose identity has not been disclosed to news media covering the case, testified in court that she did not record video of the shooting or the aftermath. She was looking at the crowd and did not learn until after she ran to safety that it was Kirk who had been shot, she told the court earlier this month.
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified this month that he thought about seeking the death penalty before an arrest had been made in the case, and his colleague’s daughter in no way influenced the decision.
Graf found that the daughter’s presence did not factor into Gray’s decision.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for attorneys with the defense and prosecution.
The director of a state council that trains prosecutors said Graf’s ruling was appropriate given the circumstances.
“Chad Grunander’s daughter is not going to be a witness. She didn’t actually see Mr. Kirk killed. She was facing away,” Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church said.
The judge has been weighing other issues of fairness for Robinson, should he go to trial.
Full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting have not been shown in court after defense attorneys objected out of concern that the footage would undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
Defense attorneys also seek to keep TV cameras and photographers out of the courtroom, arguing that “highly biased” news outlets risk tainting the case. Prosecutors, attorneys for news organizations and Kirk’s widow have urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.
The defense request to exclude cameras was classified by the court as private and has not been released.
On Monday, Graf granted a request from a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press to allow attorneys for the media to view defense requests to classify documents in the case. Graf said without access to those motions, media attorneys could not meaningfully argue against closing parts of the case from public view.
Washington
Court says IRS can continue to share immigrants’ taxpayer data with ICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Washington, D.C., federal court on Tuesday rejected a request from an immigrant rights group to temporarily block the IRS from sharing certain taxpayer data that could make it easier to identify and deport people who are in the U.S. illegally.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction for the immigrants’ rights group, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and other nonprofits that are suing the federal government over the data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The agreement allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.
In declining the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups “are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim,” since the information the agencies are sharing isn’t covered by the IRS privacy statute.
A representative from Centro de Trabajadores Unidos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the court decision was a “crucial victory” for the administration. “Deporting illegal aliens makes the American people safer,” Bondi said in her post.
The Trump administration has argued that the agreement helps carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations and workplace raids.
The creation of the data sharing agreement was so controversial that the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service resigned last year over the deal.
Earlier this month it was revealed in court filings that the IRS had erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agreement.
A declaration filed by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo stated that the IRS was only able to verify roughly 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested. For less than 5% of those individuals, the IRS gave ICE additional address information, potentially violating privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.
