The Utah judge presiding over one of the nation’s most closely watched cases took the bench for the first time less than a year ago.
The judge, Tony Graf of Utah’s Fourth District Court, is holding a hearing this week to determine whether there is enough evidence to move forward with a trial of the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist.
Mr. Graf, a former prosecutor was sworn in as a judge in August 2025 after Gov. Spencer Cox, appointed him to fill a vacancy. Previously, he was a prosecutor in Davis County, north of Salt Lake City, and in Utah County, where Mr. Kirk was killed last fall.
“Tony Graf brings a steady hand, strong ethics, and the kind of judgment we count on in Utah’s judiciary,” Mr. Cox, a Republican, said in a statement in May 2025, when Mr. Graf was appointed.
The judge earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Utah, and has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Weber State University in Utah.
Since his appointment to the bench, he has presided over cases involving child sexual abuse and threats to harmhigh-ranking Utah officials, including Governor Cox, local news outlets have reported.
Now, he is tasked with deciding whether prosecutors have enough evidence to go to trial against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Mr. Kirk on a Utah university campus last fall.
The hearing in Mr. Kirk’s case, which began on Monday, is expected to continue throughout the week.
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