Overview
- On Monday Judge Tony Graf denied the defense’s request to subpoena Tyler Robinson’s former partner to testify in person and said the state may rely on a recorded interview to establish probable cause for a July 6–10 hearing.
- Graf ruled that Utah law permits reliable hearsay at a preliminary hearing and refused to bar the prosecution from using texts, a handwritten note, DNA results, and the recorded Twiggs interview as corroboration.
- The judge postponed a decision on whether prosecutors violated a court publicity order by speaking to media about ATF ballistics findings and will consider possible contempt sanctions, including the defense’s request to remove the death-penalty notice, at a June 26 hearing.
- Prosecutors say the ATF report was inconclusive but did not exclude the rifle linked to Robinson, while the defense stresses the report could not positively identify the bullet, a dispute that has fueled public confusion and online theories.
- If Graf’s rulings stand, the preliminary hearing will focus on a low probable-cause standard using largely hearsay evidence and recorded testimony, and any live cross-examination and full challenges to evidence would move to trial if charges are bound over.