Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Tyler Robinson Preliminary Hearing Transcript (Day 5 Part 2) (10/22/26)

Transcript

Tyler Robinson Preliminary Hearing Transcript (Day 5 Part 2) (10/22/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. In
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to dive right back into the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: transcripts of Tyler Robinson's prelim hearing, day number five. Judge Graff,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: all right, and if the parties feel it would be
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: helpful to confer while the court is reviewing it, you
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: may just so if you choose to. I encourage it.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: If you don't, I respect that. And the court's going
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to take about five minutes. Again, I just want to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: review it to be brought up to full speed. and
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: just have it freshly in my mind. Defense, I'm going
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: to make one more point if I may, and that is,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this is not the first time that this has happened.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: We had earlier proceedings in the case where cameras depicted
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: images inside the courtroom that the court had prohibited, and
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the court imposed certain consequences on the media as a
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: result of that. And so that's just something to keep
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: in mind in my opinion. Judge, thank you. Defense, thank you.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Judge Graff, all right, before the court takes five minutes,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: recess to review this, Does any party need the benefit
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of the record, based on the dialogue between me and
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the defense? All right, not seeing any party respond, the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: court's in recess. Judge Graff comes back now. Please be seated.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Court is back in session. Noting the presence of counsel
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: and all parties, and where we left off as this
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: court took a recess to address, to review the video,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and I appreciate the patience of the parties as well
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: as everyone in attendance when it comes to constitutional matters
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and balancing constitutional rights and transparency. This court will take
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the necessary time to make sure it's given the weight
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: it deserves, and it's deserving of every moment that has
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: been spent. Mr. Novak, turning to you, and perhaps before
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you begin, let me go ahead and make a record
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: of what I noted that is at issue. And after
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I put this on the record, certainly, if either side
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: wishes to be heard about the court's understanding, I welcome
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: your comments. Exhibit 24 was displayed on the monitor visible
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: on To the media camera, Exhibit 16 displayed all monitors
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: and appeared on the live stream for approximately three and
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: one half seconds. The camera operator redirected the camera before
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: any party called attention to display of Exhibit 16. Approximately
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: 16 seconds later, the court observed the image and stated,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: let me stop you. I'm not sure. Is it being broadcast?
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: The prosecution responded. Let's take that down. The full text
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: of the Exhibit 16 had previously been made public through
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a search warrant that was publicly available on or before
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: April 2026. The portion displayed on the monitors did not
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: contain the full note and consisted of approximately 78 words.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Approximately 15 of those words were included in the information
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: filed on September 16, 2026. In addition, the full note
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: was read into the record during the prelim hearing. The
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: court previously ordered that Exhibit 16 be admitted into evidence
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and permitted its display within the courtroom, but prohibited its
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: publication through the camera used for the live stream. And
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: that concludes the findings of the court. As it relates
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: to the issue, do the parties wish to be heard
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: before we go into what you're requesting about the record
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: on what occurred? Prosecution, Your Honor. Your recitation is accurate.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: My earlier comments were based on my memory of reviewing
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: this last night. In the recess, I reviewed the feed again,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and what you have said today is accurate. Judge Graff,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: thank you. Any other questions? Prosecution? No, Your Honor. I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: don't take issue with the court's factual summary. Judge Graff,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: all right. Turning to defense. Defense, thank you, Your Honor.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: We're going to renew our request to exclude all electronic
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: media coverage from all future proceedings. That was our motion
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: docketed at number 305, and that included video cameras, still photography,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: and audio. This is the second time that the court's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: order concerning the scope of electronic media coverage has been violated.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I'm a baseball fan, and I just don't think the
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: court needs to wait around for strike three. Two strikes
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: is enough. If I may, the alternative remedy, which we
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: think is not wholly adequate, which is why we think
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: it's an alternative and less desirable alternative, is for the
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: court to both reverse its prior order authorizing electronic media
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: coverage of today's hearing, which we had previously filed an
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: objection to after the court. I would say preliminary granted
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the request for today. That was sort of the chain
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: of events, and that the court proactively precluded electronic media
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: coverage at the last day of the prelim hearing, which
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: will be September 1st. Now, I understand there has not
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: been a request for electronic media coverage for September 1st,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: but there's no doubt that there will be. Just as
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: this court previously observed that it wasn't prepared to preclude
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: electronic media coverage at prelim hearing because there had not
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: been any requests, there were requests and those were timely
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: and were all granted. The court denied one request because
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: it was not timely for one particular day. So I
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: guess the way it would be in any request for
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: electronic media coverage of September 1st will be denied because
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: it's the appropriate sanction of what happened yesterday. The fact
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: that the content of the exhibit was previously summarized by
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: the state in certain documents which became public, because the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: state didn't take any action to seal them beyond the
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: six-month period, the fact that the contents of the exhibit
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: were read in open court is not the issue. The
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: issue is when the court issues an order, everybody must
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: comply with it. And there are reasons for the order,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: and the reason, as this court stated, are to protect Mr.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Robinson's right to a fair trial. So no doubt the
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: court balanced those prior ways in which the content of
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the exhibit had already been disclosed when the court decided
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: that there would be electronic media coverage. That's a fact
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: that we have all known of the exhibit. And summarize,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: and then I'll stop, because I know we all have
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: a witness here, and of course the court needs to
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: hear from the state and counsel for the media, I suspect,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: is we would like the court to reconsider its order
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: denying motion 305. and granted for the balance of all
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: the proceedings in this matter. Or, as an alternative, the
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: court prohibit any further electronic media coverage of the prelim hearing,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: which includes September 1st. Judge Graff, thank you, defense. Turning
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to the state, and then to the media. The state, prosecution, yes,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Your Honor, as to the remedy we've heard of instances
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: where the media has been able to delay publication of
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the recordings of the proceedings. We've heard of instances where
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: there has been short delay of like 30 seconds. I've
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: talked to the media attorney about this, and they do
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: not have the capability to do that right now. My
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: suggestion would be for future proceedings to hear order the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: media to look into that capability, and that would be
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: a remedy that perhaps could be used in the future.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I think that would be a satisfactory remedy to avoid
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: this type of thing in the future. As to the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: other remedies requested, we have one witness, the final witness. Well,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: for the defense, has one witness, that defense is an
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: ATF DNA forensic biologist. And I assume that the exhibits
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: will be admitted through her, will be of this nature.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: We've already, in fact, admitted the report that she's going
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to be testifying to, the reports, I should say, that's
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Exhibit 30, and I believe 34. And so I don't
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: think we have those have already been published. I don't
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: think we have the same risks. Yeah, I'll just say
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: the risks with her testimony as we do with some
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: of this other evidence. that has already been admitted. Thank
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: you to the media. The media, in processing like this,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: the parties in the court and the media are working
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: together to learn and to refine their processes. I hear Mr.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Novak's remarks about challenges that we've run into in the past.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: I recall it hasn't been that long ago, a time
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: when camera was placed in a location in the courtroom
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: that was causing challenges. The court moved it. When there
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: were challenges with aspects of the court's ruling, the court
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: reiterated those, and those processes improved. We're getting better at this.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Media is on board and recognizes the court's obligation and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: its significant efforts to balancing the interests here. In light
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: of the court's ruling, including its recognition that the media
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: operator in the case beat almost all of us to
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the punch and saw what was happening on the screen
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: and moved away as quickly as they could, we believe
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: that the procedures that the court currently has in place
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Even if they don't every moment of every hearing deliver
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: the result that we are intending to deliver, those processes
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: are working. I don't believe that a further adjustment, much
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: less a sanction, much less a revisitation of something that
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: says let's keep every photographer, every camera out of the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: courtroom for every proceeding. In light of the court's well-reasoned
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: and exhaustive rulings, after a long briefing on all of this,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: the court is currently balancing these interests correctly. and we
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: therefore ask the court to allow the parties to recognize
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: that the time we're dedicating this morning represents a reiteration
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: of the importance of these principles. The media and the
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: parties all recognize that. We'll continue to endeavor at all
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: times to do all we can to ensure that those
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: are adhered to and let the parties go forward under
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the current procedures without further order or sanction by the court.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Judge Graff, thank you. Any further arguments before the court
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: issues its ruling? Defense, no. But thank you for the opportunity.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Judge Graff, all right, I'm just updating my notes and
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I'm intending to issue this ruling right now. I'm just
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: making sure that I'm capturing all the points made in
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the arguments right now. All right, I'm almost done. I
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: appreciate the party's patience. This issue rises to the level
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: that necessitates great care. And as my practice, I don't
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: like to rush or make snap decisions. And I want
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: to give this the full analysis that it's due. So
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: thank you again for your patience. All right, court will
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: issue its ruling on the request by the defense. The
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: constitutional rights of Mr. Robinson and Ms. Kirk are paramount.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Although transparency in judicial proceedings is a fundamental interest, it
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: must be balanced against the constitutional rights of all parties.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Having considered the arguments presented by counsel and having reviewed
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: the events that occurred yesterday, the court finds that its
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: order prohibiting the publication or of broadcast of Exhibit 16
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: by the media was violated. The court agrees with defense
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: that this constituted a violation of the court's order. Compliance
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: with the court's order is essential in all proceeding and
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: is of particular importance given the nature of these proceedings.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: With respect to defense request as a sanction that the
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: court reverse its ruling on defense motion 305, motion to
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: exclude cameras, that request is respectfully denied. the analysis underlying
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the court's prior ruling remains unchanged, and the court adheres
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: to its reasoning and conclusions. With respect to the defense's
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: alternative request as a sanction to prohibit all cameras and
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: electronic equipment from today's proceedings, thereby preventing the electronic capture
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: of the proceedings, for those inside and outside the courtroom,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: the request is granted in part and denied in part.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Effective immediately, members of the media shall no longer capture
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: or broadcast any exhibit displayed by the parties during today's proceedings.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: The court finds this sanction to be proportional and appropriate
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: in light of the violation of the court's prior order.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: The court reserves this sanction as it relates to September 1st.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: It's not before the court. There has not been any
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: request for electronic media coverage and the court won't issue
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: a pre-ruling. When that request has been filed and all
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the deadlines which the court has imposed in regards to
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: the MC filing are in place, if motions are filed,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: the court will entertain motions in brief arguments ahead of
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: the September 1st hearing and address it at the time.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: This is the ruling of the court. Thank you. Turning
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: to the defense, if you wish, you may call your
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: next witness. All right, folks, we're going to wrap up
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: right here. And in the next episode, we're going to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: pick up where we left off. All the information that
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: goes with this episode can be found in the description box.