AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Tyler Robinson had his second appearance in court today. This is after he was taken into custody for shooting and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus three weeks ago. Martha Harris with member station KUER was in the courtroom in Provo, Utah, and joins us now. Hi, Martha.
MARTHA HARRIS, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so I understand that today's hearing was pretty brief. Tell us what happened.
HARRIS: Yeah, so today was a waiver hearing, and Robinson's defense team decided not to waive his right to a preliminary hearing, at least not right now. His attorneys say they need more time to decide because of how much evidence prosecutors have.
CHANG: And prosecutors have a lot of evidence here, right?
HARRIS: Yeah. And we know there's a lot from the charging documents Utah County prosecutors filed two weeks ago. And the sheer volume is something attorneys kept reiterating. Here's Chad Grunander with the prosecution.
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CHAD GRUNANDER: There is a substantial amount of discovery in this case, Your Honor. It's voluminous, to say the least, and we're working on a process where we can exchange information as quickly as possible.
HARRIS: He's talking about the information prosecutors used to charge Robinson with seven counts, including aggravated murder, which means he potentially faces the death penalty. To support their case, prosecutors cited text messages where he appears to confess, DNA evidence and police interviews with Robinson's family, among other things, including lots of photos and videos from the day of the shooting - a lot of it submitted by people who were there. Prosecutors will hand all that information over to Robinson's defense team. His attorney, Kathryn Nester, says they're expecting a lot.
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KATHRYN NESTER: Until we can kind of get our heads around exactly what we're dealing with and how much we need to process, it's going to be difficult for us to give you a reasonable expectation of when we will be ready to do the prelims.
HARRIS: That's because she said they don't know how long it will take them to prepare for a preliminary hearing. Nester asked they meet in court in a month to check in. The judge agreed, and Robinson's next court date is October 30.
CHANG: So did Tyler Robinson appear in court in person today? He was originally supposed to, right?
HARRIS: Yeah. So he was originally scheduled to appear in person today, but the court said over the weekend he would appear remotely from jail where he's being held. This was a request from his legal team. Today, Robinson was on the video feed listening, but his camera was not turned - or his camera was turned off, and he didn't make any comments.
Robinson's attorney, Kathryn Nester, who was appointed by Utah County to represent him because he can't afford his own attorney, was in the courtroom. She's a prominent defense attorney who is currently working on another high-profile murder case in Utah. Nester also has on her team two California lawyers with significant experience working on death penalty cases.
CHANG: OK. So what happens next at this point?
HARRIS: Yeah, so the next hearing is scheduled for October 30. It'll be another waiver hearing where the defense can say whether they want a preliminary hearing. And if they do, they can schedule that out. Attorneys on both sides did not make any statements to reporters. Reporters have been asking about potential federal charges, and local prosecutors declined to comment on that.
The Utah County judge, Tony Graf, signed an order telling both sides not to make any statements outside the courtroom that could potentially prejudice the jury pool. Judge Graf, who's overseeing Robinson's case, took the bench less than two months ago. He ended today's hearing with a sort of speech about justice. He vowed not to put his fingers on the scale of justice, and he said Robinson's constitutional rights will be protected as this case moves along in the courts.
CHANG: That is Martha Harris from member station KUER in Provo, Utah. Thank you so much, Martha.
HARRIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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