Defense attorneys for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, have asked a Utah court to schedule his trial for the third quarter of 2029, according to court filings reported by The Associated Press. Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, has objected through her attorney, who called the proposed timeline “absurd” and said Robinson is trying to delay the case, according to the AP.
Robinson, 23, turned himself in the day after the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed while addressing a crowd of several thousand people. Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and could face the death penalty if convicted, the AP reported.
What the defense is asking the court to do
Robinson’s defense team told the court it needs several years to prepare for trial, citing the scope of a capital case. The AP reported that the attorneys landed on 2029 because that is how long they believe their preparation could take.
The defense said the work ahead includes digging into Robinson’s background for mitigating factors that could matter at sentencing, plus “substantial time” on jury selection, according to the AP. Robinson’s lawyers also said they must sift through tens of thousands of files turned over by prosecutors. Court filings cited by Fox News show the defense listed pretrial motions it expects to file through 2029 among its reasons as well.
Defense lawyers argued that locking in a trial date now amounts to “false precision.” In their filing, they wrote that forecasting when the case “will definitively be ready for trial is an exercise that, at this time, will necessarily be infected with false precision,” ABC4 Utah reported. The defense team expects the trial itself to run six to seven months once it begins, Fox News reported.
Attorneys for Robinson also warned that rushing a schedule could backfire. “It will create unrealistic expectations for the public and the victim’s representative, it may cause counsel for both parties to give short shrift to constitutionally required activities, it may rush this Court to deliberate upon and enter rulings on important and complex pretrial motions, and it may jeopardize Mr. Robinson’s right to a capital proceeding that has the utmost reliability,” the defense wrote, according to Fox News.
Why Erika Kirk’s team objects
In a filing obtained by Fox News, Erika Kirk’s legal team called the defense’s proposed timeline “grossly out of line” with comparable cases. Her attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, asked the court to start the trial in October 2027, the earliest date prosecutors identified, and argued that dragging the case out for years would violate her speedy-trial rights as a victim under Utah law, according to the AP.
Neiman argued the delay would stretch out the uncertainty for the Kirks’ two children. “Under the Defendants’ proposed schedule, Mr. Kirk’s two children, who were one and three at the time he was murdered, will be six and eight years old by the time the trial concludes. They will face the uncertainty of this criminal proceeding longer than they had their father in their lives,” Neiman wrote, according to the AP.
Erika Kirk’s attorneys also pointed to a report estimating that Robinson’s defense cost taxpayers about $1.6 million in its first year, Fox News reported. They asked the court to require monthly progress reports or status conferences as the case moves forward.
Where prosecutors stand and what’s not yet decided
The court has not set a trial date. The 2029 request from the defense and the 2027 request from Erika Kirk’s team are both proposals awaiting a ruling from Judge Tony Graf of Utah’s 4th District Court.
Prosecutors told the court they expect to be ready by October 2027. Rather than run the trial through Thanksgiving and Christmas, they proposed a Jan. 31, 2028, start, according to the AP. Prosecutors estimate the trial would last about 17 weeks, roughly four months, a shorter estimate than the six to seven months projected by the defense.
That leaves the court with three competing timelines on the table: Erika Kirk’s team pushing for October 2027, prosecutors proposing a January 2028 start and the defense asking for the third quarter of 2029.
What’s next
Graf had been expected to set a trial date at an Oct. 23 hearing but did not. He scheduled Robinson’s next hearing for Nov. 9, according to the AP. Until the judge rules, the scheduling dispute remains the central unresolved question before any trial can begin.
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