President Trump’s would-be assassin Ryan Routh will be on a tight leash when he represents himself at his upcoming Florida trial for the alleged foiled attempt.
Routh, 59, was warned about how he must conduct himself in front of jurors by federal Judge Aileen Cannon Tuesday during his last conference before jury selection starts Monday in the Fort Pierce courthouse.
Routh must wear professional business attire and will be allowed to address the panelists from the podium and when he questions witnesses. But he’ll be assigned court-appointed lawyers to advise him throughout trial, if he needs, and he will be closely monitored by court marshals for any threatening behavior.
“If you make any sudden movements, marshals will take decisive and quick action to respond,” Cannon said.
Cannon’s instructions came after she previously ruled to allow a gun and ammunition into the courtroom as trial evidence. The judge granted prosecutor’s request to bring a disabled semi-automative rifle, empty magazines, 20 live rounds, 40 shotgun shells and related items in as evidence at trial.
Cannon said FBI agents must at all times be in control of all of the items, which can only otherwise be handled by testifying witnesses.
“These items will not be left unattended by the FBI at any time during the trial,” her Aug. 26 order stated.
Opening statements are expected to begin Sept. 11 after 12 jurors and four alternates are selected. The trial is expected to take about four weeks.
In July, Cannon reluctantly granted Routh’s request to represent himself, instead of a lawyer — which is a right enshrined by the Constitution — despite warning that court-appointed lawyers “will defend you far better than you can defend yourself.”
“I strongly urge you not to make this decision,” she wrote at the time.
Last week, the judge ruled that Routh would be kept from seeing certain classified documents in the case because the feds persuaded her that if the information is revealed, it “could cause serious damage or exceptionally grave damages to the national security of the United States,” Fox News reported.
Routh — who has been cooling his heels in a Miami federal lockup since his arrest — previously made a series of bizarre requests of Cannon in an unhinged June 29 jail-house letter, including asking why his case wasn’t eligible for the death penalty, asking Cannon to allow him to “freeze to death in Siberia” and suggesting he should be used in a prisoner exchange with Hamas, Iran, China or Russia.
Routh has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he methodically planned to kill Trump in the weeks before he parked himself in a sniper’s nest on the edge of Trump International West Palm Beach for 12 hours on Sept. 15, 2024.
A Secret Service agent spotted Routh aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump arrived in the vicinity and opened fire in the would-be assassin’s direction, causing Routh to drop the gun and flee before ever firing a shot, the feds claim.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Cannon is the same judge that was assigned to the since-dismissed criminal case against Trump for allegedly hoarding troves of confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort after he’d left office.
In a stunning move, Cannon threw the entire criminal case out on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed to prosecute the case.
With Post wires
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