Defense attorneys for Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson say an ATF ballistics report did not produce a conclusive match for their client’s rifle, according to legal documents obtained by TheWrap. The filing, which requested a six-month delay for a scheduled May hearing, acknowledges that a separate FBI analysis was still pending.
The 22-year-old Utah resident was charged with aggravated murder for the fatal shooting of the conservative commentator at Utah Valley University last September. However, his defense team has since argued that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives initially found that they were “unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson.”
“Although the state has not indicated an intent to produce this report at the preliminary hearing, the defense may very well decide to offer the testimony of the ATF firearm analyst as exculpatory evidence,” the motion added. “The State has also indicated that the FBI is in the process of conducting a second comparative bullet analysis, as well as a bullet lead analysis, but that these analyses are not yet complete.”
Robinson’s defense attorneys made the argument in a motion filed Friday, in which they requested the preliminary May hearing be pushed back at least six months, due to the amount of evidence shared by the prosecution. They also anticipate more evidence is to come.
“The defense team has devoted, and will continue to devote, significant resources to processing discovery, including identifying materials not yet received to inform readiness for the preliminary hearing. However, the defense team is realistic, and the comprehensive review required to determine what is missing will take hundreds of hours,” the motion noted. “What is known at present is that Mr. Robinson has not received the forensic case files and data necessary to investigate, through the use of qualified experts, the scientific reports the state intends to introduce at the preliminary hearing.”
Robinson’s defense team also argued that despite “the Utah County Attorney’s Office’s apparent best efforts, two federal law enforcement agencies, ATF and FBI, and State Bureau of Investigation have not been able to produce discovery in time for the May 2026 preliminary hearing to occur.”
The motion continued: “Both the Utah County Attorney’s Office and Mr. Robinson continue to await a vast amount of information relevant to a review of the FBI’s and the ATF’s DNA analysis, including but not limited to validation studies and crucial electronic data files, the report and case file for a comparative bullet analysis and bullet lead analysis that is still in progress at the FBI, and the case file and protocols for a comparative bullet analysis conducted by the ATF.”
Robinson’s next court hearing is scheduled for April 17, where it is expected that the argument regarding cameras and microphones in the courtroom will be addressed.
Robinson was formally charged on Sept. 16 in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk with a total of seven counts, including aggravated murder. The alleged shooter was also charged with the felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of witness tampering. The seventh count was the commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Utah state attorney Jeff Gray announced in a press conference that he intended to seek the death penalty.
“I do not take this decision lightly,” he said at the time. “And it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime. Because we are seeking the death penalty, the defendant will continue to be held without bail in the Utah County Jail.”
