Miami, Florida The man accused of attempting to kill President Donald Trump at a South Florida golf course last year is allowed to represent himself at trial, a federal judge decided Thursday. Ryan Routh, the suspect, asked to represent himself at trial, and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted his motion. Cannon did, however, emphasize that lawyers designated by the court must continue to serve as standby counsel. The action was done after federal public defenders requested earlier this week that Routh be removed from the case due to his frequent refusals to meet with them.
A year after prosecutors claim a U.S. Secret Service agent stopped Routh, 59, from shooting Mr. Trump as he was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, Routh is set to go on trial in September. Prosecutors claim that before pointing a rifle through the bushes when Mr. Trump was playing golf on September 15, Routh meticulously planned to kill him for weeks. Before Mr. Trump appeared, Routh was noticed by a Secret Service agent. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, according to officials, and when the agent opened fire, Routh dropped his weapon and ran away without shooting. The Secret Service member allegedly saw Routh’s AK-47-style rifle in the forest line between 300 and 500 yards from Mr. Trump, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Routh wrote to Judge Cannon on June 29th, claiming that he and his lawyers were at odds and that they were not responding to his inquiries. “I could die being of some use and save all this court mess, but no one acts; perhaps you have the power to trade me away,” he said in the same letter, hinting that he might be used in a prisoner exchange with Iran, China, North Korea, or Russia.
Routh rejected six attempts to meet with their team, including a scheduled in-person meeting Tuesday morning at the federal detention center in Miami, according to a motion filed on Wednesday by the federal public defender’s office to terminate the appointment of counsel, stating that the attorney-client relationship is irreconcilably broken: The motion stated that it is evident that Mr. Routh wants to represent himself and that he is within his constitutional rights to do so.
Routh has entered a not guilty plea on charges of assaulting a federal officer, multiple firearm crimes, and attempting to assassinate a prominent presidential candidate. In addition, he entered a not guilty plea to state accusations of attempted murder and terrorism.
Shutterstock.com/Katherine Welles provided the editorial.
