Courts and Criminal Justice

Tyler Robinson has asked Judge Tony Graf to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office over an alleged conflict after a deputy prosecutor’s adult child was in the crowd at the Jan. 16 Utah Valley University rally, and his lawyers separately moved to bar a close‑range color video of Charlie Kirk’s shooting from the Feb. 3 disqualification hearing as irrelevant and likely to be widely rebroadcast. Prosecutors counter that the child did not see the shooting, is neither a victim nor a material witness and that there is "virtually no risk" of bias, while legal experts say disqualifications on such grounds are rare, the district is pressing toward a death‑penalty prosecution, and the judge is weighing limits on cameras amid defense delay‑accusations and the victim’s widow’s calls for a speedy trial.

Defense attorneys for Utah children’s author Kouri Richins, who is awaiting trial on aggravated murder and related charges in the 2022 fentanyl poisoning death of her husband Eric Richins, filed a Jan. 25 motion accusing the prosecution team of intimidating key witnesses. The filing alleges a lead detective told one witness she could be arrested and jailed if she refused to do a prep session and insisted on written questions, while a county investigator allegedly warned another witness that previously granted immunity could be withdrawn if they did not meet again, despite earlier assurances they had done nothing wrong. The defense argues this conduct may violate Utah’s witness‑intimidation statute and Victim and Witness Rights Act, and asks the court to compel prosecutors to turn over all communications with trial witnesses under rules requiring disclosure of material affecting credibility. Prosecutors declined public comment, saying they will answer through the court ahead of jury selection, which is set to begin in the coming weeks in the highly publicized Park City case that drew attention after Richins published a children’s grief book about her husband’s death. The motion adds a new legal fight over alleged coercive tactics on top of forensic evidence that prosecutors say shows Eric Richins had more than five times a lethal dose of illicit fentanyl, along with high levels of the antipsychotic quetiapine, in his system.

A Texas jury acquitted former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales on all 29 child‑endangerment counts after roughly seven hours of deliberation, finding he did not criminally fail to confront the 2022 Robb Elementary gunman. Gonzales, who did not testify and whose defense pointed to body‑camera footage and orders from supervisors, said he has no regrets; prosecutors framed the case as enforcing law‑enforcement duties, victims’ families reacted with anger and vowed to keep seeking accountability, and former schools police chief Pete Arredondo remains charged.

Timothy Busfield, the actor and director, surrendered in New Mexico and was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse over allegations that he touched one of twin boys multiple times on the set of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady between November 2022 and spring 2024; prosecutors pointed to medical findings, therapy disclosures, a separate past allegation from an audition and what they describe as a pattern of grooming. His attorneys say a Warner Bros. probe failed to corroborate the claims, that Busfield passed an independent polygraph, and they allege the twins’ parents — including the father, a disbarred former attorney who pleaded guilty in a 2017 federal fraud case — have a history of dishonesty and a financial or retaliatory motive; Judge David Murphy ordered Busfield released on supervised release with conditions, including no contact with the alleged victims and permission to return home outside New Mexico.

Austin David Thompson pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of assaulting an officer with a gun for the Oct. 13, 2022 Raleigh rampage that prosecutors say began with the shooting and repeated stabbing of his brother James inside the family home and continued in the Hedingham neighborhood and a nearby greenway, killing neighbors Nicole Connors, Mary Marshall and Susan Karnatz and Officer Gabriel Torres while wounding another neighbor and Officer Casey Clark; officers fired roughly 23 rounds before his arrest. Judge Paul Ridgeway accepted the plea, set a multi-day sentencing hearing for Feb. 2, and prosecutors say there is no plea deal — Thompson, who was a juvenile at the time and thus ineligible for the death penalty, faces the possibility of life without parole while his defense has said a self-inflicted gunshot before arrest caused significant brain damage that delayed proceedings.

A violent repeat offender has been charged with murder after a Raleigh teacher was fatally shot while on a 911 call, with the emergency call reportedly capturing her final moments. Separately, a man in North Carolina pleaded guilty in a separate shooting that left five people dead, including his brother and a police officer.

Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds says his office will ask a New Jersey judge to dismiss all charges against Atlantic City superintendent La’Quetta Small and high school principal Constance Days‑Chapman, weeks after Mayor Marty Small Sr. was acquitted on similar child‑abuse counts involving their teenage daughter. Reynolds said the now‑18‑year‑old daughter has told prosecutors she does not want the case to go forward, and he cited both her wishes and the prior not‑guilty verdict for the mayor in deciding not to proceed. La’Quetta Small had been set for an April trial on endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault, while Days‑Chapman was accused of failing to report the teen’s abuse allegation to state child‑welfare officials; both had pleaded not guilty. The dismissal request, which still requires a judge’s approval, effectively ends a high‑profile case that raised questions about alleged abuse inside a prominent political family and about whether a school principal met mandatory‑reporting obligations. Her attorney argued the matter should have been handled through counseling or family court rather than criminal prosecution, underscoring ongoing debates over how aggressively authorities should pursue intra‑family abuse allegations when the alleged victim no longer wants to cooperate.

A San Francisco jury found 24-year-old Antoine Watson guilty of involuntary manslaughter and assault, but not murder, in the January 2021 killing of 84-year-old Thai immigrant Vicha Ratanapakdee, whose death helped galvanize a national movement against anti-Asian American violence. Jurors concluded Watson committed a lesser homicide offense for the unprovoked attack, captured on security video, in which he charged at Ratanapakdee during the victim’s morning walk and knocked him to the ground; Ratanapakdee died two days later without regaining consciousness. Prosecutors did not bring hate-crime charges and the question of racial motive was not argued at trial, with Watson testifying he was in a 'haze' of anger and did not know the victim was Asian or elderly. Defense attorney and San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said Watson is 'fully remorseful,' while DA Brooke Jenkins’ office declined comment until jurors complete a separate phase on aggravating factors starting Jan. 26, after which sentencing will be set. The verdict will draw scrutiny from Asian American advocates who saw the case as emblematic of a surge in anti-Asian harassment and assaults during the COVID era but now face a legal outcome that stops short of murder or a hate-crime finding.