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Utah taxpayers are on the hook for Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin’s defense team, which has the potential to reach eight figures, criminal defense attorneys told Fox News Digital.
After the shooting on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Kirk was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he died, officials said. Tyler Robinson was charged with aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Kathryn Nester, a former federal public defender with more than 30 years of experience, was appointed to be Robinson’s attorney on Wednesday, according to a Utah County spokesperson. While the Utah County Commission approved $1 million in initial staffing additions to go towards the prosecution and defense team in Robinson’s case, local attorneys told Fox News Digital that they expect the total amount spent defending the murder suspect to be much higher.
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“This action fulfills the commission’s constitutional responsibility to ensure that individuals accused of a crime — who cannot afford legal representation — are provided with a qualified defense,” the Utah County Commission said in a news release.
Utah defense attorney Greg Skordas appeared on behalf of Utah County on Sept. 16 and was helping the county find a lawyer for Robinson. He told Fox News Digital there are specific requirements for an attorney appointed to Robinson since it’s a death penalty case.
“They have to be what’s called death qualified. I know that’s weird, but we have a rule in Utah called Rule 8, which says in order to be court-appointed on a death penalty case, you have to accomplish certain things. In other words, you’ve done so many criminal cases. You’ve gone to trial on murder cases. You’ve taken classes in death penalty representation,” Skordas said.
While there’s a contract in place that touches finances, Skordas said there’s “no ceiling” on it.
Criminal defense attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital that if Robinson is handed the death penalty by a Utah jury, the potential amount spent on his defense could be “north of $10 million” because of the appeals process.
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“I think when we’re all said and done, this will cost the state much more than $500,000. We’re talking about seven or even eight figures,” Rahmani said. “But if Tyler Robinson is sentenced to death, and he has to go through the mandatory Utah state and federal appeals, we’re talking about millions of dollars, potentially even north of $10 million.”
Rahmani said the number spent by Utah taxpayers will be less if jurors don’t return a death sentence, but would still be in the millions.
Skye Lazaro, a Utah-based criminal defense attorney, told Fox News Digital the case will cost Utah taxpayers “at least a couple million dollars” to pay for Robinson’s defense, but that’s if a jury doesn’t hand down a death sentence. That number would be much higher if a death sentence is given to Robinson because of the appeals process, Lazaro said.
“I don’t even know how you’d put a dollar amount on that,” Lazaro said, adding that the $10 million figure given by Rahmani isn’t “off base.”
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