A weeklong concludes Friday for the man accused of killing conservative activist . Prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial.
The 23-year-old Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Robinson鈥檚 lawyers plan to call a final witness as they try to raise doubts about the prosecution鈥檚 case. The defense has previously challenged the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk鈥檚 body and fought the release of with Robinson鈥檚 , Lance Twiggs, as well as chat room messages Robinson wrote on Discord.
There are only 14 seats for the public in the courtroom
People have been lining up early 鈥� sometimes sleeping outside the doors 鈥� in hopes of getting a wristband for a seat in the courthouse this week. Only 14 wristbands are given out each day, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Chris Palmer, the court鈥檚 director of security, warned Thursday morning that tents and other camping supplies won鈥檛 be allowed as people seek a seat for the final day of the hearing Friday. He also warned against jumping in line or saving spots for someone else.
Earlier in the week, court security said it discovered some people had bought colored wristbands to try to sneak in.
Defense tries to sow doubt about ballistics evidence
One of Tyler Robinson鈥檚 attorneys, Michael Burt, tried to inject doubt into the prosecution鈥檚 case by challenging the reliability of ballistics tests on a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk鈥檚 body.
Authorities sought to tie the fragment to the suspected murder weapon, but the results were inconclusive.
鈥淪aying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate,鈥� said Samantha Karner with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The defense earlier in the week had questioned the reliability of DNA evidence that investigators said linked Robinson to the scene. Experts say the science behind DNA testing is sound.
Robinson鈥檚 attorneys plan to have a second person from ATF testify Friday.
The prosecution ended its presentation Thursday afternoon.
Testimony in five-day preliminary hearing wraps Friday
After testimony in the hearing ends Friday, State District Judge Tony Graf will rule whether prosecutors have shown enough evidence to proceed to trial. But a decision from Graf won鈥檛 come immediately.
Attorneys on both sides say they鈥檇 like the benefit of seeing the court transcript of the preliminary hearing and want to submit written briefs before Graf weighs in.
That will take weeks to play out. Graf set oral arguments on the evidence presented in the preliminary hearing for Sept. 1.
Graf tends not to make immediate rulings.
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