BREAKING: Judge scolds defense for not prioritizing Charlie Kirk murder case

During a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Tony Graf told the defense in the Charlie Kirk murder case that it "must have priority" in their schedules as the court seeks to balance "the constitutional rights of all parties and being timely in its process." 

Defense attorney Richard Novak said that the team had suggested a date of April 17 to resolve motions in the case ahead of the case’s May preliminary hearing.

Graf said, "I wish to address the motions to classify and addressing the closure of the hearing, or the evidentiary hearing to exclude media well before April, and I don't believe that those hearings will take a lot of time, and for this court, for many reasons, and because the court intends to keep the May preliminary hearing, and I realize that there may be things that come up that may affect that, but as we stand today, that preliminary hearing date is set and I wish for these issues to be addressed prior to the preliminary hearing, given the nature of that hearing, and so there is clarity on what will happen."

While discussing dates for upcoming hearings, Graf said, "I recognize that you all have challenging schedules, but this case must have priority, as this court is trying to balance the constitutional rights of all parties and being timely in its process. So I ask you, respectfully, to do your best to ensure that we can align to a schedule that allows us to move forward in a proper manner while respecting the constitutional rights of all parties."

Tyler Robinson has been charged with the killing of Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on September 10 at Utah Valley University. Robinson's next court date is on March 13. 

At the Tuesday hearing, Graf also denied a motion from the defense to disqualify the entire Utah County Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case because one of the attorneys had a daughter who was present on the Utah campus the day Kirk was shot.