Prosecutor in Charlie Kirk shooting case held in contempt by judge

Judge rebukes Christopher Ballard for talking to media but declines defense's request to take death penalty off table

A Utah judge held a prosecutor in contempt on Friday for speaking to the media about the murder case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, but did not grant the defense attorney's request to bar the death penalty as punishment in the case.

Defense attorneys for Tyler James Robinson, the Utah man who allegedly shot Kirk, a conservative political activist, last September, argued in a March court filing that deputy Utah county attorney Christopher Ballard had violated a pre-trial media gag order.