FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers for a man accused of trying to kill President-elect Donald Trump in September asked a federal judge Wednesday to delay his trial until next December because they need more time have to review the evidence against him and decide whether an insanity defense should be raised.
Ryan Wesley Routh’s public defenders told District Judge Aileen Cannon that they cannot prepare their case before February, when the trial is currently scheduled. They say this isn’t enough time to review the vast amounts of phone and computer evidence the FBI has collected. Routh possessed 17 cellphones and numerous other electronic devices, plus hundreds of hours of police cameras and surveillance videos provided to the defense.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Kristy Militello told Cannon that the only other clients she has had with more voluminous evidence against them are those accused of elaborate fraud and two accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol 2021. Only one other attorney and an investigator are working with her on the case and she has other clients who also need her time, Militello said.
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Unlike prosecutors, “I don’t have the resources of the FBI” to review the evidence, Militello told Cannon, a Trump appointee who also led and ultimately threw out the president-elect’s alleged stolen documents case .
Routh, 58, sat quietly during Wednesday’s hearing, handcuffed to the same chair Trump used during hearings in his case. Routh, a resident of Hawaii, has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor John Shipley Jr. told Cannon that while he agreed that February is not a realistic schedule, delaying the trial for a year would violate Trump’s rights to a speedy trial and that Secret Service Agent Routh is accused of throwing his gun to establish. He did not propose a specific date but said next summer would not be preferable because many potential jurors would have holiday conflicts.
He told Cannon that while the computer files are large, they largely belong to Routh and that he should be able to help his attorneys search them. He also said that unlike fraud cases, where the evidence is often complicated, the allegations against Routh are clear and simple.
Prosecutors say Routh methodically planned to kill Trump for weeks before pointing a rifle through the brush while Trump played golf at his West Palm Beach country club on September 15. Before Trump came into view, Rout was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly pointed his gun at the officer, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Prosecutors say he left a note describing his intentions.
He was arrested a short time later while driving on a nearby highway.
The parties briefly showed their hands on a possible insanity defense. Militelo said the last person to speak to Routh before he was spotted on the golf course told the FBI he appeared to be hallucinating. She said other witnesses have told officers that Routh is delusional.
Shipley told Cannon that an insanity defense would have no merit as his attorneys would have to prove that Routh had a mental condition or defect that prevented him from understanding the nature and wrongfulness of his actions. It’s clear he understood his actions, Shipley said. Among the evidence prosecutors say they have are computer searches Rout conducted on flights from nearby Palm Beach International Airport to Mexico.
Routh’s charge of attempted murder of a leading presidential candidate carries a possible life sentence if convicted. Other charges include assault on a federal officer and three firearms counts. He is being held without bail in federal prison in Miami.
Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service acknowledged the shortcomings that led to that shooting, but said security worked as it should to thwart the potential attack in Florida.
