Kirk Preliminary Hearing - Day 1

Thus begins the downfall of the CandyCult's "investigation"

It is important to remember that this is a PRELIMINARY hearing, not the actual trial.

The Preliminary Hearing for the Charlie Kirk Killer started today. This is NOT the full trial; it is where the prosecution presents evidence for the judge to determine whether there is enough to proceed with a trial. The killer has been charged with Aggravated Murder, Felony Bodily Injury, Obstruction, and Witness Tampering.

Erica Kirk was in the courtroom along with Charlie’s family, members of TPUSA, Don Jr and his wife, and Jack Posobiec. Erica was seen leaving the courtroom with Charlie’s parents before the graphic videos of her husband’s death were played in the court.

The hearing was tedious. We only got through two of the planned witnesses, because the defense attorney objected to EVERY exhibit. Because this is a preliminary hearing, the Prosecution is trying to save time by using law enforcement to lay the foundation and introduce evidence. For instance, a photo of the scene needs to be verified to be accurate by the person who took it. But under Utah law, it is permissible to admit “reliable hearsay” at a preliminary hearing. So, every exhibit brought up would prompt the Defense to object on hearsay grounds, and the judge would eventually overrule her. Most of the exhibits were shown in court, but not on the live stream. The especially graphic videos of the moment Charlie was shot were shown only to the Judge, witnesses, and lawyers. The live Stream was muted to prevent the audio from being broadcast.

I am not a lawyer, so I watched Andrea Burkhart’s coverage of the hearing. Andrea is a criminal defense attorney in Washington State with almost 20 years of courtroom experience. She has been breaking down court cases on YouTube for about four years. Her coverage is extremely helpful to us non-lawyers, as she gives us insight into the legal system.

Officer Christopher Bagely, formerly with UVU PD, was the first witness. He was called to lay the foundation for photographic evidence of the amphitheater area and the sniper’s nest on top of the Losee building, because he was one of the first officers on scene and helped to secure the scene on the roof. He testified that he heard the gunshot and was able to identify it as a rifle, not a handgun. He claims to have realized this amid the chaos after finding an empty holster in the grass. While the defense tried to seize on this holster, the truth is, UVU allows concealed carry on campus. Bagely said that when he found the holster, he slowed himself down and carefully considered what he had heard. He insisted that the shot he heard was from a rifle, not a handgun. He also testified to finding the sniper’s nest on top of the Losee building. While describing one of the photos admitted into evidence, he said, “There's two elbows, two knee areas, plus also towards the far right of the photo is also a marker where like somebody laid a gun down.”

FBI Agent David Hull testified. He was used to bring in the videos collected by law enforcement depicting the shooter and the moment. Honestly, most of these videos have already been made public on social media; however, they were, for the most part, not shown to the public in court today. As Andrea pointed out, any evidence not shown in public at this hearing will be made public either during or after the actual trial.

The autopsy report was admitted to evidence, but we won’t get to see it yet; however, Agent Hull verified that the cause of death was homicide by a bullet to the neck, so there goes Candace’s latest theory about an exploding mic.

For a more detailed transcript of today’s hearing, check out the live thread on East Idaho News.

Before the hearing began, the Kirk family released a statement. They said they will respect the legal process and make no comments at this time.

Meanwhile, Candace Owens spent the better part of the day telling her fans not to trust any of the evidence presented in court, and attacking Andrew Kolvet, Charlie’s right-hand man at TPUSA. Lots of people spoke up in defense of Erica, including Joshua Haymes, who said that everyone he’s spoken to at TPUSA said that Charlie was managing Candace to prevent her from attacking the organization. Candace flipped her lid after Andrew Kolvet confirmed that Charlie did not view her as a friend; he “managed” her by sending her just enough messages to keep her happy and prevent her from attacking the organization. She proceeded to leak every recent TXT thread she had, which, unfortunately for her, kind of proved Andrew’s point. Charlie was being very surface-level with her. Sending her the occasional news story while holding her at arm’s length. Nothing in the newer TXTs she leaked indicates a close friendship. Andrew responded by telling Candace he was sorry she had to find out this way, but Charlie only placated her.

The Preliminary hearing is expected to last five days. Tomorrow, court starts at 11 AM Eastern, and the defense gets to cross-examine Agent Hull before the prosecution calls their next witness.

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Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative currently stuck in a very blue state.