With everything else that's been going on in the world, the trial of would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh in the Southern District of Florida has flown a bit under the radar. The trial began on September 8 and has featured its fair share of oddness, given that Routh has opted to represent himself in the matter, though Judge Aileen Cannon ensured that standby defense counsel was a part of the proceedings as well.
Routh stood trial for the following charges:
Count I, the most serious of the charges, is punishable by life in prison and required prosecutors to prove an intent to kill, and that the defendant took a "substantial step" towards committing the crime. Count II is also punishable by life in prison.
Routh wrapped up his defense on Monday, and closing arguments were held on Tuesday morning. After less than three hours of deliberation and a request to see some of the physical evidence, including the rifle in question, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all charges.
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New: Secret Service Agent Came Within 5 Feet of Would-Be Trump Assassin
Routh, as noted, stood accused of plotting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump after lying in wait in a sniper's perch at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024. Routh's plot was foiled when a Secret Service agent spotted him. Agent Robert Fercano testified that, "The barrel of the AK was pointed directly at my face...I was in fear for President Trump's life."
While Fercano said he initially thought Routh was not a threat, he stated that he then noticed an object "black in nature protruding from the fence line" when he was approximately five feet from Routh.
"Upon further scanning, I had identified the weapon to be a Soviet-style weapon," he said. "I noticed the front sight post was facing me."
A former Marine marksman, Fercano said the situation "appeared to be a textbook ambush scenario."
As also noted, the trial has been marked by some bizarre moments given Routh's acting pro se.
Starting with the pretrial hearings and throughout the trial in federal court here, Routh was admonished repeatedly by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for disrupting the proceedings and asking witnesses questions that the judge deemed outside the scope of the case or irrelevant.
On Tuesday, Routh asked his own ballistics expert, Michael McClay, “Does it take a special kind of person to be able to take another person’s life?” Cannon called for a break before McClay could answer and later told Routh the question was "far outside the bounds."
Routh called two character witnesses on the stand who testified that he was not violent and is a "jolly person." After that, Routh announced, "I will not testify."
Nevertheless, the prosecution presented a thorough case over the span of a week. (Jury selection began on the 8th, with opening statements and the presentation of evidence getting underway on the 11th.)
His "pro se" defense starkly contrasts with the prosecution's, which spent nearly two weeks carefully and extemporaneously making its case against Routh to a jury in Fort Pierce, Florida.
In that span, jurors heard from 38 witnesses and reviewed hundreds of exhibits — text messages, call logs, bank records, and cellphone data — linking Routh to the alleged gun purchase and placing him near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in the weeks before the alleged attempted assassination.
Routh now faces sentencing (we'll include the date as soon as that is known), and will have to determine if he wishes to appeal the verdict.
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