A trial over President Trump’s attempted assassination as he golfed in South Florida last year is set to begin Monday, where the man accused of plotting the political hit is expected to defend his own case.
Ryan Routh, the defendant, faces five criminal charges including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say that, after a 12-hour stake out nearly a year ago, he pushed the muzzle of a rifle through the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, near its sixth hole. A Secret Service agent saw him and fired, and he fled without firing a shot.
The case’s dynamics have shifted sharply since Routh fired his public defenders and began representing himself, as the defendant has offered a series of unconventional resolutions to the case.
After his plea for a prisoner swap with North Korea or another U.S. adversary was rejected, he suggested this week his case should be decided by a round of golf with Trump.
“He wins he can execute me, I win I get his job,” Routh wrote in a typewritten letter that vulgarly disparaged the president.
Federal prosecutors have already made moves to limit what Routh can say at trial, warning he may otherwise try to mislead jurors into believing that the court is “hiding” evidence.
At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said Routh may use a podium while speaking to the jury but warned him against rashly moving about the courtroom.
“If you make any sudden movements, marshals will take decisive and quick action to respond,” the judge said, according to the Associated Press.
Cannon is set to oversee the trial that will take place in her Fort Pierce, Fla., courtroom. Nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020, Cannon oversaw his classified documents criminal prosecution and regularly earned Trump’s praise. The case was dismissed following his election victory.
Before Routh fired his public defenders, they sought Cannon’s recusal from the case, but she declined.
On Monday, attorneys will begin questioning prospective jurors, a process that is expected to take three days as the parties look for 12 jurors and four alternates to hear the case. Opening statements are set to begin Thursday, after which prosecutors will dive into their case against Routh.
A North Carolina native, Routh was charged last September. The incident came just two months after Trump was bloodied in another assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
Unlike the Butler shooter, who was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper within seconds, law enforcement arrested Routh after finding him driving on I-95 in the county just north of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach.
The government has listed nearly four dozen witnesses who may testify at the trial, mostly comprising law enforcement officials from the FBI, Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
After Routh allegedly fled the scene, agents found two bags, a loaded rifle with a scope and other items, according to an FBI affidavit. When stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county, Routh answered affirmatively that he knew why he was being stopped, the affidavit says.
Prosecutors could show the semi-automatic rifle found at Trump’s golf club and photos of Routh holding the same model weapon, according to the government’s 33-page exhibit list, which was unsealed Tuesday.
The exhibit list also includes dozens of Routh’s internet searches, from how to buy a gun and how long gun powder residue remains on clothing to Secret Service response time to assassination plots and Trump’s campaign schedule.
Routh’s own exhibit and witness lists center more on his character, an effort to speak to his intent and defense that he is not a dangerous man.
He proposed exhibits showing he became an Eagle Scout 45 years ago; his mid-2000s effort to help his son lobby for a new skate park in their North Carolina town; and that local police awarded him a “Law Enforcement Oscar” in 1991, calling him “citizen of the year.”
However, it also includes Routh’s “Dear World” letter, which prosecutors seek to show a jury, as well. Cannon has allowed the first three sentences to be introduced but has not yet ruled on the rest of it.
“Dear world, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” the alleged letter reads. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
Cannon already approved four character witnesses to testify in Routh’s case, though she said they seemed to “bring dubious value” to his defense.
The judge has also permitted Routh to call a former Marines sniper to the stand to push back on expected expert testimony from the government, including the FBI employee who examined Routh’s alleged rifle.
Routh sought to subpoena several other witnesses, including Trump himself.
The judge has blocked off four weeks for the trial, but prosecutors have said they expect it to take less time.
The Associated Press contributed.
