FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Acting as his own lawyer in a federal trial, a man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at the former president’s golf course is set to deliver his final argument on Tuesday. However, the judge has cautioned him that his speech may be curtailed if he strays from the guidelines.
Ryan Routh and prosecutors will each have one hour and 45 minutes to make their final cases to jurors before they begin their deliberations.
According to prosecutors, Routh had spent several weeks planning to kill Trump, a Republican, and attempted to carry out the assassination by aiming a rifle from behind some bushes as Trump was golfing on Sept. 15, 2024, at his country club in West Palm Beach.
The 59-year-old defendant, Routh, has denied the charges of trying to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and multiple firearm offenses.
In the closing moments of court proceedings on Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon reminded Routh that his closing arguments must be based on the evidence and testimonies provided during the trial. She warned him that disregarding these instructions might result in him forfeiting his time to present his closing argument.
Routh chose to invoke his constitutional right not to testify in his defense, and Cannon clarified that his closing statement cannot be used as an opportunity to testify without facing cross-examination.
“This can’t be your opportunity to provide pseudo-testimony outside the context of sworn testimony,” Cannon said.
While Routh acknowledged this, he had similarly claimed to understand the guidelines nearly two weeks ago during his opening statement. Despite this, Judge Cannon had to interrupt him before his ten-minute mark because he disregarded her directions and digressed into discussions about Adolf Hitler and the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Routh rested his case Monday morning after questioning just three witnesses — a firearms expert and two character witnesses — for a total of about three hours. In contrast, prosecutors spent seven days questioning 38 witnesses.
Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself following two hearings in July. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney. Routh’s former defense attorneys have served as standby counsel since Routh took over his own defense and have been present during trial the past two weeks.
Recounting what happened at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified earlier in the trial 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 Butler, 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.
Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press.
In the early days of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a “weapon of mass destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) fuse, police said.
In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.
Besides the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
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