Taxpayers could shell out up to $10 million defending the man accused of targeting conservative activist Charlie Kirk — and defense lawyers are using every delay tactic in the book to force prosecutors into a plea deal.
Multiple lawyers told The New York Post that 23-year-old Tyler Robinson’s defense team is challenging every aspect of the case with one goal: pressure state prosecutors into offering a life-without-parole deal instead of the death penalty they’re currently seeking.
Robinson faces charges in the September 2025 incident at Utah Valley University where Kirk was fatally wounded during a speaking event.
“They’re litigating anything and everything to try to bring the prosecution to the table to offer a life-without-the-possibility-of-parole deal.”
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said Robinson’s county-funded defense team has to be specially trained because the case involves the death penalty — driving costs even higher.
“So yeah, it is costing taxpayers,” Rahmani told the Post. “But what do you expect the defense to do? They’re playing the hand that they’re dealt, right? And it’s not a good hand.”
The strategy is working. If the case drags on long enough, prosecutors may cut a deal for life in prison just to avoid the endless appeals that come with death penalty convictions.
“If the state offered a plea deal and a life sentence, the taxpayers would save millions and millions of dollars,” Rahmani said.
Last week Judge Tony Graf Jr. oversaw the preliminary hearing where prosecutors presented their evidence. Graf will rule in September whether there’s enough to schedule a trial.
Rahmani said the judge is moving deliberately — maybe too deliberately. “I think all the attention on the case, he doesn’t want to make a mistake or be overturned on appeal. He’s very slow, he’s very thorough, and very deliberate.”
That delay puts more pressure on prosecutors. Rahmani pointed to Bryan Kohberger, who avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty in the University of Idaho case.
“They’re trying to put pressure on the prosecution to offer a life deal. Like they did in Kohberger,” he said.
Nathan Evershed, a former deputy district attorney for Salt Lake County, agreed the defense is playing the long game.
“Usually what happens is that the longer a case can get delayed, the more of a chance there can be an off-ramp or a plea deal,” he told the Post. “And an off-ramp is harder to find when it’s raw and very, very fraught with emotions. Whereas it’s easier to find when it’s less raw and you’re able to come to the table.”
Evershed confirmed the bill would be steep before it’s all over.
“It’s going to cost quite a bit of money to get to that point,” he said. “And the only people that will be paying for that are the taxpayers.”
The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.
