SALT LAKE CITY — Tyler Robinson, accused of shooting Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last week, is expected in court for the first time Tuesday afternoon.
Before he was taken into custody, Governor Spencer Cox and President Donald Trump were calling for the death penalty.
"He’s going to be found guilty I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty,” Trump said.
"We’ve been working with our attorneys, getting everything that we need, affidavits ready, so that we can pursue the death penalty in this case, and that will happen,” Governor Spencer Cox said during a press conference.
FOX 13 News spoke with Utah criminal defense attorney Clayton Simms about whether this case meets the criteria for capital punishment.
“It's not a traditional death penalty case where there's multiple deaths, there's torture and cruelty, or the victim is particularly vulnerable and under the age of 14, but there are circumstances in which it would fit,” Simms said.
He said they may focus on cruelty, and the fact that he may have put others at risk during the event.
“The aggravating factor that is most closely aligned is the death of a public official, if he's considered a public figure,” Simms said. "If you kill someone in front of 3,000 live witnesses, if you kill someone knowing that it's going to have an impact beyond the state of Utah... that could be particularly cruel.”
Mitigating factors could come into play, however, including mental health illness or Robinson’s age.
While there may be outside pressure from Cox and other officials for the death penalty, Simms said prosecution is required to remain independent.
“They will not be controlled by the governor,” Simms said. "You could present the death penalty, it doesn't mean a jury is going to convict him of the death penalty, even if it's sought.”
The biggest challenge, however, will be finding a jury that is impartial.
“The likelihood of a juror not knowing anything about this case is very, very low,” Simms said. "They're going to feel very, very strongly about this particular case. So, all of the coverage will have an impact on the jury.”
Robinson will be in court Tuesday and will be given an attorney and will be presented with charges.
Simms said while information coming out of the courtroom may be limited, it is very important to the case.
