As a result of the horrific Charlie Kirk murder, Utah County has spent $1,600,000 for Tyler Robinson’s defense through preliminary hearing according to The Salt Lake Tribune. This amount does not include the cost of the prosecution and court personnel. Taking this case to trial would result in significant additional expense. If the state is successful in achieving a conviction for aggravated murder and if the defendant is sentenced to death, the costs for both prosecution and defense for the mandatory appeals will be an additional burden on the taxpayer. Nonquantifiable is the pain and suffering for the family of the deceased while this case is pending.
Much of the expenditure of funds is because the defendant has been charged with aggravated murder, which carries the death penalty. Now that the court has found probable cause to bind the defendant over to trial, let’s conclude this case with the Utah County Attorney offering the defendant a plea offer: Plead guilty to aggravated murder with the death penalty taken off the table and instead agree for the defendant to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The above disposition resolves the case immediately allowing the family and community to heal with the certainty that the case is over and the defendant will be incarcerated for the remainder of his life. The multiple millions of public dollars would not be needed, both to obtain the conviction and sentence as well as the years (perhaps decades) of appeals — the cost of which far exceeds the costs of lifetime incarceration.
This letter only addresses the financial issues of this prosecution. Left unsaid is the irrefutable evidence that the death penalty does not deter crime and the expense cannot be justified.
Why do we kill people to teach people that killing people is wrong?
David Bennett, Park City