FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of attempting to murder President Donald Trump at his Florida golf club last year argued to a federal judge on Friday that prosecutors failed to establish proof of an assassination plot. However, the judge rejected his request for acquittal, meaning a jury will ultimately determine the man’s fate.

On Friday afternoon, prosecutors concluded their case against Ryan Routh following testimony from 38 witnesses over a seven-day trial. After the jury was sent home for the weekend, Routh, representing himself, requested U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to acquit him on four of the five charges he faces, excluding the charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

The prosecution has stated that Routh had planned for weeks to kill Trump, eventually aiming a rifle through the foliage while Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his country club in West Palm Beach.

Routh has entered a plea of not guilty to charges including attempting to assassinate a significant presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and various firearm violations.

Routh argued Friday afternoon that prosecutors haven’t proven any attempt to assassinate Trump.

“They maybe proved that someone was outside the (golf course) fence with a gun, but the gun was never fired,” Routh said.

Routh argued that the area outside the Trump International Golf Club was a public right of way along a public road, and thus anyone had the right to be there with a weapon.

Prosecutors countered that Routh took several significant steps in his attempt to assassinate Trump, such as aiming a loaded gun with the safety off through the fence.

“This is as far from peaceful assembly as you can get,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley said.

Cannon denied Routh’s motion, explaining that a juror could reasonably find that prosecutors had met their burden of proof. That means the next step is for the defense to begin its case Monday morning. Routh has indicated he plans to call three witnesses: a firearms expert and two character witnesses. He hasn’t said whether he plans to testify himself. He told the judge Friday that his case should take about half a day.

Cannon said attorneys should be prepared to deliver their closing arguments on Tuesday, giving each side one hour and 45 minutes. Jurors will begin deliberating after that. Cannon had initially blocked off more than three weeks for the trial at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse, but Routh’s relatively short cross examinations have led to a quicker pace than anticipated.

The prosecution’s final witness spent about six hours over Thursday and Friday tying together about a week’s worth of testimony. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly McGreevy used cellphone records, location data, text messages, bank records, internet searches, security video and various store receipts to illustrate Routh’s actions and movements over the month prior to the attempted attack and to show that he began trying to acquire a gun, despite being a convicted felon, nearly six months before his arrest.

Evidence showed that Routh traveled to South Florida about a month before the assassination attempt, McGreevy said. He lived out of a black Nissan Xterra, normally parked at a western Palm Beach County truck stop, while routinely traveling to the areas around Palm Beach International Airport, Trump International Golf Course and Trump’s primary residence at Mar-a-Lago, the agent said.

“He was living at that truck stop and conducting physical and electronic surveillance and stalking the president, then-former President Trump,” McGreevy said.

Recounting the alleged attack at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified last week that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot, the agent said.

Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witness said he confirmed it was the person he had seen.

Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived an attempt on his life while campaigning in Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.