By DAVID FISCHER
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The person charged with making an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump whereas he performed golf final 12 months in South Florida stood earlier than a gaggle of potential jurors in a Florida courtroom on Monday and stated he was “sorry for bringing you all in right here.”
Ryan Routh, carrying a grey sports activities coat, crimson tie with white stripes and khaki slacks, is representing himself within the trial that started with jury choice on Monday within the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida.
“Thanks for being right here,” Routh advised the primary group of 60 jurors who have been introduced into the courtroom after U.S. District Decide Aileen Cannon launched prosecutors and Routh to the panel.
Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to signify himself however stated court-appointed attorneys wanted to stay as standby counsel.
Throughout a listening to earlier to go over questions that might be requested of jurors, Routh was partially shackled. However he didn’t seem like restrained when the primary of three batches of 60 potential jurors have been introduced into the courtroom on Monday afternoon.
Cannon dismissed the questions Routh wished to ask jurors as irrelevant earlier Monday. They included asking jurors about their views on Gaza, the speak of the U.S. buying Greenland and what they’d do in the event that they have been driving and noticed a turtle within the highway.
The choose authorised many of the different questions for jurors submitted by prosecutors.
The panel of 120 potential jurors stuffed out questionnaires on Monday morning and the primary group was introduced into the courtroom throughout the afternoon session. The choose inquired about any hardships that might stop them from sitting as jurors throughout a weeks-long trial. Twenty-seven famous hardships and the choose dismissed 20 of them on Monday.
The opposite two teams of jurors will return to the courtroom on Tuesday morning for related questioning. Those that will not be dismissed will then return at 2 p.m. Tuesday for additional questioning in regards to the case and their views.
The courtroom has blocked off 4 weeks for Routh’s trial, however attorneys predict they’ll want much less time.
Jury choice was anticipated to take three days in an effort to seek out 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Opening statements have been scheduled to start Thursday, and prosecutors will start their case instantly after that.
Cannon advised Routh final week that he can be allowed to make use of a podium whereas chatting with the jury or questioning witnesses, however he wouldn’t have free rein of the courtroom.
Cannon is a Trump-appointed choose who drew scrutiny for her dealing with of a legal case accusing Trump of illegally storing categorised paperwork at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Seashore. The case grew to become mired in delays as motions piled up over months, and was in the end dismissed by Cannon final 12 months after she concluded that the particular counsel tapped by the Justice Division to analyze Trump was illegally appointed.
Routh’s trial begins practically a 12 months after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted Routh’s try to shoot the Republican presidential nominee. Routh, 59, has pleaded not responsible to expenses of trying to assassinate a significant presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and a number of other firearm violations.
Simply 9 weeks earlier, Trump had survived one other try on his life whereas campaigning in Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight pictures, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear, earlier than being shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.
Prosecutors have stated Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks earlier than aiming a rifle by means of the shrubbery as Trump performed golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Seashore nation membership. A Secret Service agent noticed Routh earlier than Trump got here into view. Officers stated Routh aimed his rifle on the agent, who opened fireplace, inflicting Routh to drop his weapon and flee with out firing a shot.
Regulation enforcement obtained assist from a witness who prosecutors stated knowledgeable officers that he noticed an individual fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a close-by interstate the place Routh was arrested, and the witnesses confirmed it was the particular person he had seen, prosecutors have stated.
The choose final week unsealed the prosecutor’s 33-page record of displays that might be launched as proof on the trial. It says prosecutors have photographs of Routh holding the identical mannequin of semi-automatic rifle discovered at Trump’s membership.
Routh was a North Carolina development employee who lately had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary chief, Routh spoke out to anybody who would hear about his harmful, generally violent plans to insert himself into conflicts all over the world, witnesses have advised The Related Press.
Within the early days of the battle in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit troopers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to struggle the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a site visitors cease and barricading himself from officers with a totally automated machine gun and a “weapon of mass destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch fuse.
In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and located greater than 100 stolen gadgets, from energy instruments and constructing provides to kayaks and spa tubs. In each felony circumstances, judges gave Routh both probation or a suspended sentence.
Along with the federal expenses, Routh additionally has pleaded not responsible to state expenses of terrorism and tried homicide.
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