Judge Tony Graf ruled Monday that prosecutors will be allowed to introduce hearsay evidence during Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing next month, rejecting an effort by the defense to block the material.
Graf said the July hearing is an important part of the criminal process, but stressed that it is not a trial.
“The court does not understand this principle to mean that constant constitutional protections are categorically inapplicable at a preliminary hearing, rather, because a preliminary hearing serves the limited purposes of determining whether probable cause exists, the scope and operation of a particular constitutional protections must be evaluated in light of that purpose,” he said.
Robinson’s attorneys had sought to prevent hearsay evidence from being presented. The disputed material could include prerecorded testimony from Robinson’s roommate and former lover, Lance Twiggs, along with the medical examiner’s findings and federal DNA and ballistics reports.
Graf also postponed a decision on whether prosecutors violated a gag order and whether sanctions should be imposed. Another hearing is scheduled for Friday at 8:30 a.m. local time.
Robinson’s defense team is asking the court to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment, arguing prosecutors improperly discussed the case outside the courtroom.
“The only way that this Court can demonstrate that its orders, and the ethical rules that counsel must obey, are not optional when it comes to the State’s attorneys, even in this case, is to impose the sanction undersigned counsel have urged upon this Court: striking the State’s death notice,” reads the filing, signed by defense attorneys Kathryn Nester, Richard Novak, Michael Burt and Staci Visser.
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