Before announcing his decision on Nov. 9 in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Judge Tony Graf Jr. weighed the arguments of three interested parties: prosecutors, defense lawyers, and attorneys representing Kirk's surviving relatives.

The judge said the mid-2028 date could change depending on check-ins with attorneys to see whether that date remains feasible.

Jury selection is expected to begin on June 21, 2028, the judge said, noting that court officials should plan to contact 3,600 potential jurors.

The judge set aside 105 court days - 21 five-day weeks - for the trial.

The mid-2028 date is later than prosecutors and the victim's representatives had requested but sooner than defense lawyers had sought.

Graf spoke for more than an hour as he detailed the planned pretrial schedule and explained reasons for setting various dates.

An attorney representing Kirk's family said the date Graf set will be nearly three years after Kirk was slain.

"[That] does not feel very 'speedy' to the Kirk family," the attorney said.

However, the attorney said that they had "no choice but obviously to accept the schedule that the court has put forward."

"We only ask that the court hold to the schedule," the attorney said.

Lawyers for Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, called the defense's proposed 2029 timeline "grossly out of line with comparable cases," a court filing states. They requested "the earliest possible date in 2027," which would be that October, the prosecutors' motion states.

The judge said on Nov. 9 that he aimed to "ensure that the constitutional rights of Mr. Robinson and Mrs. Kirk are upheld at every juncture" and that all parties are treated "with the dignity and respect they are due as human beings."

A key consideration involved the fact that one of Robinson's lawyers is committed to a trial in California, the judge said.

Prosecutors said they have already provided Robinson's defense team with all relevant "discovery," or evidence that they currently possess and must disclose by law, a court filing states.

Because of the amount of pre-trial preparation required - and a desire to avoid holiday-season commitments for jurors - prosecutors requested a trial date of January 2028.