The widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk, said in a new court filing that the trial should be open to the media, calling for transparency.
“As this Court is aware, this matter has received significant public attention,” the filing, obtained by Fox News, reads. “This public attention cannot be ignored. And although it is critical that this Court balance the defendant’s right to a fair trial with the public’s First Amendment right of access to judicial proceedings, any request, by either party, to essentially close these court proceedings from the public eye should be denied.”
“The public assassination of Mr. Kirk has profoundly affected many. Without meaningful access to these proceedings, the public will be unable to directly observe and evaluate the evidence presented, leaving a critical gap in understanding the circumstances surrounding his death,” it adds.
Without adequate transparency, theories and misinformation will circulate, both which serve “neither the interests of justice nor those of Ms. Kirk.”
Kirk previously called for a speedy trial in response to delays from the legal team representing her husband’s accused assassin, Tyler Robinson.
Kirk’s attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, wrote in a court filing that the Constitution “does not guarantee them the right to cause undue delay in the criminal justice process. The Defendant in this case is entitled to a fair trial, and he must be given one, but he is not entitled to cause undue delay to the criminal justice process.”
The Utah Code “affords victims of a crime ‘the right to a speedy disposition of the charges free from unwarranted delay caused by or at the behest of the defendant … and to prompt and final conclusion of the case after the disposition or conviction and sentence, including prompt and final conclusion of all collateral attacks on dispositions or criminal judgments,’” he wrote.
