The Utah County Attorney's Office can continue to pursue its aggravated murder case against the 22-year-old man accused of killing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, a judge in Utah ruled.
The judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by lawyers for Tyler James Robinson to disqualify the prosecutors due to an alleged conflict of interest. The 18-year-old daughter of one of the lawyers on the case was present at the college campus event where Kirk was fatally shot.
In a ruling he announced in court, Judge Tony Graf said this did not constitute a conflict.
Robinson faces a possible death penalty if convicted, but has yet to enter a plea more than five months after the slaying.
His lawyers had urged Graf to remove the Utah County Attorney's Office from the case on the grounds that no effort was made to wall off the allegedly conflicted prosecutor from the case.
The county attorney's office has maintained that the circumstances do not qualify as a conflict of interest. The agency said the daughter of the prosecutor did not see Kirk get shot and would not be called as a witness in the case.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed Sept. 10 while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University attended by about 3,000 people. The university is in Orem, Utah, which is within Utah County.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, asked about fierce competition across the financial industry, said he's starting to see parallels to the era before the 2008 financial crisis, when a rush to make loans ended disastrously.
"Unfortunately, we did see this in '05, '06 and '07, almost the same thing -- the rising tide was lifting all boats, everyone was making a lot of money," Dimon told investors on Monday. While JPMorgan isn't willing to make riskier loans to boost net interest income, he said, "I see a couple people doing some dumb things. They're just doing dumb things to create NII."
Dimon, who led the largest US bank through the 2008 financial crisis and scooped up two major competitors that collapsed, said he expects the credit cycle will eventually sour again -- though he is not sure when. The CEO has been warning for months about the potential deterioration in credit quality. When auto lender Tricolor Holdings and car-parts supplier First Brands Group imploded last year, he said that seeing one "cockroach" meant more would likely crop up.
In recent weeks, various industries have confronted the artificial intelligence "scare trade," as investors weigh how the new technology could disrupt markets.
"There's always a surprise in a credit cycle," Dimon said, adding that the surprise has often been which industry. "This time around it might be software because of AI."
While that may prompt JPMorgan to scrutinize certain lending, Dimon expressed doubt it would have a major impact on credit losses.
Private Credit
Dimon's lender largely stayed on the sidelines early in the private credit cycle. His own comments have threatened the delicate detente between rapidly growing private credit firms that have taken some business from banks' leveraged loan desks, but have also become some of their biggest clients as well as occasional partners. The cockroach quip sparked a war of words over whether banks or private credit firms are better positioned to weather a broader downturn.
At the same time, JPMorgan has also been flexing its muscles, winning business from private credit managers and Wall Street rivals with substantial financing packages to win coveted debt deals that included a $20 billion check to back the acquisition of Electronic Arts Inc., the largest-ever commitment by one bank for a leveraged buyout.
The financial industry, like many others, has also suffered stock declines in recent weeks because of AI concerns. Dimon said Monday that he sees his bank as a winner in the AI race.
"At the end of the day in 100 areas, we'll be a winner in 75 and a loser in 25," Dimon said.
In the wide-ranging question-and-answer session at what the bank called a "company update" for investors, Dimon inevitably got asked about succession. He's run JPMorgan for 20 years, building it into the biggest and most profitable US bank along the way. The question of when he might retire -- and who might succeed him -- has for years been a source of intrigue across Wall Street.
This time, his answer was broadly in line with recent responses: He'll be at the bank for "a few years" as CEO, and "maybe a few after that" as executive chairman, he said, adding that it's ultimately up to JPMorgan's board of directors.