Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Judge Delays Decision on Tyler Robinson Trial Schedule (10/26/26)

Transcript

Judge Delays Decision on Tyler Robinson Trial Schedule (10/26/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

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  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. Over
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the past few days, there has been a hearing in
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the Tyler Robinson trial up in Utah. And the hearing
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  Speaker 1: had to do with setting a trial date. However, Judge
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  Speaker 1: Graff wasn't comfortable setting that date at the end of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the hearing. So he had to take some more time
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: so that he could balance out the arguments that he
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: heard during the hearing. And I know a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people are bent out of shape over it. But it
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  Speaker 1: would seem to me that a lot of people aren't
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  Speaker 1: familiar with capital cases. Because these things right here, they
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  Speaker 1: take time. This isn't your run-of-the-mill case. It's going to
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  Speaker 1: take years. I mean, take a look at what happened
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  Speaker 1: with Brian Kohlberger. And look at how many delays, how
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  Speaker 1: much nonsense occurred. And even still now, after, you know,
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  Speaker 1: admitting that he's guilty, Homeboy's trying to get a new trial.
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  Speaker 1: So when you look at something like Tyler Robinson... and
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  Speaker 1: the fact that he's being tried in a capital case,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to be one of those things that gets
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  Speaker 1: drawn out. And listen, if you were on trial in
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  Speaker 1: a death penalty case, I'm sure you'd want to take
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  Speaker 1: your time too. Now the state obviously wants to get
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  Speaker 1: things going. Because the quicker they get things going, the
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  Speaker 1: fresher the evidence is, and the better chance they have
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  Speaker 1: of putting Robinson on death row. On the flip side
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  Speaker 1: of that, the defense wants to slow things down. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: some evidence gets lost. Maybe people pass away. Maybe somebody
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  Speaker 1: forgets their story. Maybe somebody changes their mind. So that's
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  Speaker 1: why somebody like Tyler Robinson would waive his right to
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  Speaker 1: a speedy trial. He wants to get all the facts, right?
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  Speaker 1: There's going to be tests, psychological, etc. A whole bunch
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  Speaker 1: of stuff. And what Judge Graff is trying to do
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  Speaker 1: is manage all of that. So I know that people
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  Speaker 1: aren't too excited and there has been a lot of criticism.
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  Speaker 1: But I would suggest that people slow down a little
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  Speaker 1: bit and understand that that this is a capital case
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  Speaker 1: and it's not going to work like a regular trial.
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  Speaker 1: So with that said, we have an article from Fox
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  Speaker 1: News and the headline. Tyler Robinson hearing ends without a
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  Speaker 1: trial date set, prompting fiery plea from Erica Kirk's lawyer.
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  Speaker 1: This article was authored by Michael Ruiz and Jamie Vera.
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  Speaker 1: Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old Utah man, accused of assassinating Charlie
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  Speaker 1: Kirk at a Turning Point USA event last year, still
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have a trial date after a Utah judge listened
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  Speaker 1: to oral arguments from both sides and a lawyer for
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  Speaker 1: Kirk's widow about how much time they think they'll need
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  Speaker 1: and when they'd like to start. And of course, the
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  Speaker 1: lawyer for Charlie Kirk and Erica Kirk is going to
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  Speaker 1: want this, you know, going right away. They feel like
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  Speaker 1: they have the goods. They feel like they have the
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  Speaker 1: right guy. And they think that the trial should proceed ASAP.
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  Speaker 1: And I get it. If it was my loved one,
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  Speaker 1: I'd want the same thing. But when you look at
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  Speaker 1: it from a neutral perspective, and you have an understanding
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  Speaker 1: of how capital cases work, then it's very difficult to
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  Speaker 1: try and make the case that they move to trial
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  Speaker 1: right away. Because then you're setting yourself up for disaster
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  Speaker 1: during appeal. You have to make sure all the constitutional
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  Speaker 1: boxes are checked. And if you don't do that, forget it. Robinson,
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  Speaker 1: wearing a light gray suit, uncuffed and unchackled, did not
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  Speaker 1: address the court. He spoke quietly with attorneys Richard Novak,
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  Speaker 1: Kathy Nestor, and Stacey Visser during breaks, at one point
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  Speaker 1: handing Visser a note. And I know people are going
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  Speaker 1: to be bummed out about that too. But remember, Tyler
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  Speaker 1: Robinson just accused right now. He's not guilty. Now you
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  Speaker 1: might think he's guilty and think there's a preponderance of
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  Speaker 1: evidence that points to him and I would agree with you.
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean he should be shackled yet or
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  Speaker 1: that he should be wearing prison jumpsuit. The man's fighting
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  Speaker 1: for his innocence, so he should wear regular clothes to court.
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  Speaker 1: And I've always said that about everybody, even people I hate,
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  Speaker 1: including Ghislaine Maxwell and Brian Kohlberger. The state has so
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  Speaker 1: much power that you can't give them any advantages, right?
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  Speaker 1: Even if it's somebody you hate. Because if you're going
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  Speaker 1: to back it for somebody you hate, eventually it could
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  Speaker 1: be you or somebody you don't hate, right? So consistency
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  Speaker 1: in the law is very important. And when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to something like this, I've always thought that the attire
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  Speaker 1: should be appropriate. And that means somebody who is wearing
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  Speaker 1: regular clothes until they're convicted. Now, the caveat to that
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  Speaker 1: is if the state has regulations or rules, then hey,
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  Speaker 1: whatever the rules are. But under normal circumstances, I don't
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  Speaker 1: believe that people that are just accused should be showing
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  Speaker 1: up in a prison jumpsuit. Judge Tony Graff said that
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  Speaker 1: he had planned to set a trial date at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the hearing, but needed more time after questioning
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  Speaker 1: both sides about their expected timelines and commitments and previously
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  Speaker 1: scheduled trials on other cases. And that's another thing that
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  Speaker 1: you have to take into consideration. These lawyers have other cases.
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  Speaker 1: So if they have something on the books already, something scheduled,
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  Speaker 1: then how can a judge jump in and change that up?
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  Speaker 1: So there's a lot of factors that come into a
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  Speaker 1: decision like this, And I think that Judge Graff is
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  Speaker 1: doing the best he can to manage all of it.
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Neiman, an attorney for Kirk's widow Erica, pleaded with
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  Speaker 1: the court to speed things up. Robinson did not enter
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  Speaker 1: a plea until last month, nearly a year after being charged.
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  Speaker 1: That happens. That's the system. I'm not saying I agree
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  Speaker 1: with it, but I understand how it works. Every day
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  Speaker 1: of delay adds to uncertainty, invites speculation, and erodes the
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  Speaker 1: confidence in this system, Neiman said at one point. I
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  Speaker 1: don't agree with that, sorry. I think that if somebody
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  Speaker 1: is being tried for a capital offense, then they should
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  Speaker 1: be afforded the time necessary to build that defense. The
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  Speaker 1: roughly three-hour hearing included several interruptions due to technical difficulties
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  Speaker 1: with WebEx, with Robinson's defense attorney Michael Burt and an
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  Speaker 1: attorney for Kirk's parents, Robert and Kathy, attending remotely. Utah
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  Speaker 1: County prosecutors had floated January 31st, 2028 as their preferred
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  Speaker 1: trial date, but said they could be ready in October
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  Speaker 1: of 2027. Well, of course they can. They feel like
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  Speaker 1: they have the goods, and I think they do. Again,
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  Speaker 1: I want to be clear. I think they have the
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  Speaker 1: right guy. But we don't know that for sure. We
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  Speaker 1: haven't seen all the evidence. I'm just basing my opinion
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  Speaker 1: on the circumstantial evidence that we've seen so far. And
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  Speaker 1: if anything else pops up that points in a different direction,
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  Speaker 1: I'll be the first one to say it. I don't
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  Speaker 1: have any loyalty to either side. I'm not a Charlie
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  Speaker 1: Kirk guy. And I certainly don't care one bit about
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  Speaker 1: Tyler Robinson. I care about one thing and one thing only.
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  Speaker 1: The truth. Wherever that shit leads us, it leads us.
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  Speaker 1: Visser said that the pre-trial litigation builds upon itself. And
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  Speaker 1: given that there are over 31,000 pieces of discovery... and
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  Speaker 1: 8 million artifacts of digital evidence, lawyers will need time
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  Speaker 1: to file motions to compel, file subpoenas, etc. That's true.
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  Speaker 1: It's not an easy job. And it's going to take
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  Speaker 1: them quite some time to go through discovery, especially with
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  Speaker 1: this much stuff. Now, that doesn't mean they should have
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  Speaker 1: an open-ended look at what's going on. But they should
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  Speaker 1: be given the proper amount of time to go through
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  Speaker 1: the evidence and try and build a defense. Discovery review
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  Speaker 1: is foundational, she said. It impacts everything else. As a result,
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  Speaker 1: she said, the state's proposed January 2028 trial is not practical.
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  Speaker 1: And I agree with that, honestly. I don't think it's practical.
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  Speaker 1: January 2028? About a year? Not enough time. Maybe the
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  Speaker 1: middle of 2028, and I think that might be where
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  Speaker 1: the judge ends up when all is said and done.
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  Speaker 1: But I think January 2028, considering the context and considering
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  Speaker 1: the evidence, That's a bit early. So I think that
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  Speaker 1: we'll see the middle of the month. Maybe a summer trial?
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  Speaker 1: That seems more likely. Of course, just my opinion. The
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  Speaker 1: defense had asked for a soft target date in the
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  Speaker 1: third quarter of 2029, citing large amounts of discovery and
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  Speaker 1: other pre-trial preparations, as well as trial commitments in other cases.
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  Speaker 1: Among those, one directly conflicted with the prosecution's desired start date.
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  Speaker 1: A federal racketeering case, defense attorney Novak has scheduled for
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  Speaker 1: January 10th, 2028. Both sides agree that setting a trial
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  Speaker 1: that would run through the holidays could put potential jurors
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  Speaker 1: and witnesses in a bind. The Glenn Maxwell trial was
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  Speaker 1: over the Christmas holiday, and I was not a big
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  Speaker 1: fan of it. I thought that there was a lot
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  Speaker 1: of potential pitfalls and a lot of things that could
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  Speaker 1: go wrong considering that we're talking about, you know, Christmas
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  Speaker 1: and New Year's, people maybe not showing up, whatever. But thankfully,
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  Speaker 1: It went off without a hitch, basically. But I'm not
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  Speaker 1: a big fan of having trials around the holidays. I
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  Speaker 1: understand that it has to happen, but if I could
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  Speaker 1: avoid it as a lawyer, I would try to. Justice
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  Speaker 1: delayed this long stops being justice for the Kirk family,
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  Speaker 1: Neiman said. That's hyperbole. Justice is justice. And when it's delivered,
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  Speaker 1: it should be righteous. There's no justice if it's built
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  Speaker 1: on lies. So it's important to get the facts right.
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  Speaker 1: It's important to make sure that everybody's constitutional rights are
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  Speaker 1: being respected, including Tyler Robinson's. Neiman noted that only about
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  Speaker 1: 5% of federal cases actually make it to trial and
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  Speaker 1: said the Kirk family would be happy to write to
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  Speaker 1: the federal judge and ask for the January trial to
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  Speaker 1: be rescheduled to clear up Robinson's defense attorney. Under Utah's
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  Speaker 1: state constitution, victims and their representatives have a right to
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  Speaker 1: a speedy resolution to their case. Erica Kirk is the
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  Speaker 1: court designated victim representative. Well, Tyler Robinson, he has rights too.
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  Speaker 1: And look, don't take that as me defending the dude.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm defending the constitution and I'm defending the
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  Speaker 1: fact that everybody is innocent until proven guilty. Novak told
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  Speaker 1: the courtroom that the trial's date had been set in
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  Speaker 1: stone and argued against rushing things along in the case
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  Speaker 1: against Robinson. The reality is rushing to trial does not
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  Speaker 1: lead to closure. It does not lead to finality. It
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  Speaker 1: leads to mistakes, he said. And I agree with that, honestly.
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  Speaker 1: As somebody that's followed along with a lot of these trials,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of capital cases, you can't rush it. I
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  Speaker 1: know we all want resolution. We want justice. But we
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  Speaker 1: can't rush it. Graff expressed concern that if he does
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  Speaker 1: not set a date soon, additional conflicts could arise. Neiman,
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  Speaker 1: who is primarily a criminal defense attorney, has repeatedly asked
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: the court to speed things up. Time is the defense's
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  Speaker 1: best ally, he said. It's our best friend. Facts. Like
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  Speaker 1: I just told you earlier. The longer you draw your
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  Speaker 1: shit out, the better off you are. He also noted
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  Speaker 1: that regardless of when the trial takes place, Charlie Kirk
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  Speaker 1: won't be able to spend Christmas with his family. Your Honor,
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  Speaker 1: if you said it, It'll happen. Mr. Neiman said, set it, please.
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  Speaker 1: Graff set the next hearing for Monday, November 9th at
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  Speaker 1: 1 p.m. when he said he would read his ruling.
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  Speaker 1: So look, we don't know when this trial is going
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  Speaker 1: to start. But come November 9th at 1 p.m. Mountain Time,
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  Speaker 1: we will. And that's when Judge Graff is going to
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  Speaker 1: issue his ruling. And if I had to speculate, I
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  Speaker 1: would say that he's going to split the baby, meaning
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  Speaker 1: that I expect a summer trial in 2028. That would
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  Speaker 1: be my guess. So we'll see what Judge Graff has
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  Speaker 1: to say. And when he makes his ruling, obviously, we'll
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  Speaker 1: have that added to the catalog as well. But until then,
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  Speaker 1: we'll continue going through the court documents and whatever else
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  Speaker 1: pops up. Because as you all know, there is a
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  Speaker 1: lot of road to travel when it comes to the
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  Speaker 1: murder of Charlie Kirk and the trial of Tyler Robinson.
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  Speaker 1: All the information that goes with this episode can be
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: found in the description box.