Utah Fourth District Judge Tony Graf issued his oral ruling on two motions from the 12/11/25 hearing. Judge Graf read the orders in court.
With some limited redactions, specifically related to security measures, Judge Graf just ruled & is reading his order to release the Oct 24 hearing transcript & audio in the Tyler Robinson case. Partial loss for the defense & partial win for media.
The hearing is still going on, there is one more ruling.
9:26 a.m. The hearing concluded. Judge Graf issued his decision regarding closures & when & whether press who have requested notice should be served & procedure.
Next hearing remains set as scheduled for Jan 16.
Details:
"The Court has reviewed the October 24 transcript and audio recording," said Judge Graf.
Before his ruling, Judge Graf always summarizes what happened at the last hearing which is helpful to new viewers watching the livestream or attending a hearing for the first time.
"This case has attracted extraordinary international and national interest " said Judge Graf.
In determing "whether restrictions on public access are warranted," Judge Graf said, "there are competing constitutional interests" and "the public's access is not absolute."
However, Judge Graf did not grant the motion to seal the transcript. He redacted 246 words out of 83 pages. Safety concerns and security measures were mostly the "justification" for his decision. Privacy concerns were also mentioned.
"The redacted transcipt will be filed today," said Judge Graf. "The audio recording in approximately two weeks." This is to ensure all redactions are made in the audio released.
The "standing decorum order has been updated," said Judge Graf. If you read my coverage of the December 11 hearing, you know why.
Judge Graf then addressed the second motion.
"The press does not need to be party to a criminal action to pursue the public's presumptive right to access public court records," said Judge Graf. "The press has already been provided with a mechanism" under Utah Rule 4-202.04 "to protect that right and has already utilized it in this matter."
He said only the State and defense were parties in a criminal action. However, thanks to the media interveners; the lawyers who argued for the media at the December 11 hearing, the defense and prosecution are required to give media notice of a closure motion or a request to classify or reclassify public court records to the media who made such a request.
The state and defense are not required to give notice on requests to limit electronic media coverage of a hearing or on records that are not public.
Overall, the rulings are a bigger win for media and transparency. Every courtroom in a state is closed for certain proceedings and every judge can grant, deny or restrict what kind of media coverage is allowed by citing legal reasons for the decision.
I have linked my prior posts several times which includes live coverage. This is the last time I will include links because every post can be accessed via the search feature on the blog or Google.
Previous posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/12/tyler-robinson-looks-relaxed-and-smiled.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/10/tyler-robinson-hearing-for-thursday.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/10/prosecutors-response-to-defense-request.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/10/indeed-given-pervasive-media-coverage.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/next-tyler-robinson-hearing-at-october.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/tyler-robinson-defenses-first-request.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/tyler-robinson-is-now-expected-to.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/pre-trial-protective-order-granted-by.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/pre-trial-protective-order-granted-by.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/tyler-robinson-first-court-hearing-is.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/09/this-investigation-is-fast-moving-and.html?m=1
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