Charlie Kirk‘s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson appeared in court on Monday but hid his face during the hearing.
Robinson, 22, and his newly appointed legal counsel asked to have his waiver hearing postponed and did not enter a plea.
Utah’s court system gives people accused of crimes an option to waive their legal right to a preliminary hearing and instead schedule an arraignment where they can enter a plea.
The alleged assassin was not present in court as his attorney, prominent Utah defense attorney Kathryn Nester, and state prosecutors discussed the case.
Officials said earlier that Robinson would appear via video but he was not seen on Monday.
His attorney Nester told Utah Fourth District Judge Tony Graf in Provo that she did not intend to waive a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors must demonstrate to a judge that there is sufficient evidence to support the charges.
Nester said the defense will need time to examine the evidence, which prosecutors called ‘voluminous,’ and suggested it may be months before the hearing can take place.
Prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to seek the death penalty.
Tyler Robinson, 24, appeared in court on Monday but was not seen. He is pictured during his first court appearance earlier this month
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot dead at Utah Valley University on September 10
The alleged assassin was not present in court as his lawyers and state prosecutors discussed the case
The hearing in Provo was open to the public, just a few miles from the Utah Valley University campus in Orem where many students are still processing trauma from the September 10 shooting and the day-and-a-half search for the suspect.
Robinson’s next hearing is on October 30 and he is expected to appear in person.
Authorities arrested Robinson when he showed up with his parents at his hometown sheriff’s office in southwest Utah, more than a three-hour drive from the site of the shooting, to turn himself in.
Prosecutors have since revealed incriminating text messages and DNA evidence that they say connect Robinson to the killing.
A note that Robinson had left for his romantic partner before the shooting said he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, ‘and I’m going to take it,’ Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray told reporters before the first hearing. Gray also said that Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: ‘I had enough of his hatred.’
Robinson has been jailed at the Utah County jail in Spanish Fork since his arrest.
The assassination of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who worked to steer young voters toward conservatism, has galvanized Republicans who have vowed to carry on Kirk’s mission of moving American politics further right.
Trump has declared Kirk a ‘martyr’ for freedom and threatened to crack down on what he called the ‘radical left.’
Prominent Utah defense attorney Kathryn Nester will represent Robinson
Prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to seek the death penalty
Kirk, who was 31 when he was killed, is survived by his wife Erika, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months, seen here
Kirk’s political organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, brought young, evangelical Christians into politics through his podcast, social media and campus events.
Many prominent Republicans are filling in at the upcoming campus events Kirk planned to attend, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sen. Mike Lee at Utah State University on Tuesday.
