A Utah county attorney prosecuting the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Tuesday rejected defense claims that his office has a conflict of interest and should be disqualified from the case.

At a hearing in Provo, Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray defended his office’s decision to seek the death penalty for the 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, who is charged with seven criminal counts in the shooting death of Kirk at a Utah college campus last year.

Defense attorneys have argued that the decision to seek the death penalty for Robinson less than a week after Kirk’s death showed a “strong emotional reaction” by one of Gray’s senior prosecutors, whose 18-year-old daughter witnessed the September 10 killing.

Testifying before District Court Judge Tony Graf, Gray said he relied on his 25 years of knowledge about conflicts of interest to decide there was no risk of bias in his office prosecuting the case.

“The evidence that had been gathered supports the aggravated murder charge, and I believe that the death penalty is entirely appropriate in this particular case,” Gray testified.

Robinson, charged with aggravated murder, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, will not enter a plea until after a preliminary hearing, tentatively scheduled for mid-May.

The accused, who was studying to be an electrician, is alleged to have fired a single round from a rooftop that hit Kirk as he debated students at Utah Valley University in Orem during a tour of U.S. colleges.

Prosecutors have asked to show a video of Kirk’s killing during Tuesday’s hearing to demonstrate that the prosecutor’s daughter was just one of thousands of witnesses. The Utah County Attorney said prosecutors do not need or plan to have her testify.

Robinson’s team has contended that showing the video, taken a few feet from Kirk, will violate the defendant’s right to a fair trial. The hearing will be televised, and the defense has argued the video would taint potential jurors because it is too graphic.

Kirk was credited with mobilizing young voters who helped President Donald Trump win the 2024 election and his death underscored rising political violence in the United States.

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(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson and Cynthia Osterman)