Two months before his criminal trial is scheduled to begin, the man accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump at his golf club near Mar-a-Lago has asked to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon held private and public hearings on July 10 to assess whether Ryan Routh, 59, understood the implications of his request. After he swore under oath that he did, the judge reviewed a report on his mental competency and promised to issue a ruling soon.
Until then, Routh’s current attorneys — Assistant Public Defenders Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola — must remain on the case and meet all existing deadlines.
If convicted of trying to assassinate the president, Routh faces a potential life sentence. Prosecutors say he staked out Trump International Golf Club in suburban West Palm Beach for 12 hours on Sept. 15, positioned behind a chain-link fence with a loaded rifle and a bag of mini-sausages.
A U.S. Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of Routh’s rifle “aimed directly at him” near the course’s sixth hole, according to court records. Trump, not yet in the gunman’s line of sight, was at the fifth hole.
The agent fired several shots, none of which landed. Prosecutors say Routh did not return fire but instead fled on foot to a black Nissan Xterra parked across the street. A nearby driver took a photo of Routh’s car and captured all but the last digit of his license plate.
Authorities arrested Routh along Interstate 95 in Martin County. Inside his Xterra, agents discovered two additional license plates, six cellphones — one of which contained the Google search query: “how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico” — 12 pairs of gloves, a passport and a handwritten list of venues where Trump was scheduled to appear.
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In addition to the attempted assassination charge, Routh faces charges of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and assaulting a federal officer. He has pleaded not guilty to each.
Over the past year, Routh’s attorneys have moved to dismiss two charges against him, suppress evidence they claimed was unreliable, objected to limitations the government sought to place on possible trial defenses and argued that the indictment unlawfully punished Routh for protected political speech.
They opposed the government’s effort to introduce past misconduct, including a prior conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction. They also fought to exclude statements Routh made in emails and phone calls.
Routh’s attorneys argued that much of prosecutors’ proposed evidence is either too remote, too prejudicial or irrelevant to the charges at hand. They accused prosecutors of trying to sidestep the burden of proving what Routh intended on the day of the suspected assassination attempt by flooding jurors with inflammatory material from years earlier.
They also argued that Routh’s writings, statements and online activity — even those hostile toward Trump — are protected under the First Amendment and cannot legally be used as proof of criminal intent.
Cannon denied nearly all of these efforts, including one that asked the Trump-appointed judge to remove herself from the case.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have moved to limit what jurors can hear at trial. They successfully barred Routh from presenting an alibi defense after he missed a disclosure deadline. They also convinced the judge to block certain arguments they worried might mislead jurors, like attempts to justify Routh’s actions by criticizing Trump or inviting jurors to disregard the law based on their political beliefs.
Cannon’s rulings have narrowed the ground on which the defense can operate. If she grants Routh’s request to represent himself, it will be up to him alone to navigate those constraints.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ryan Routh asks to fire lawyers, defend himself in Trump plot case