Ryan Routh’s Lawyer Indicates Possible Insanity Defense in Trump Assassination Attempt Case

Ryan Wesley Routh participates in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 30, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/ AP Photo

FORT PIERCE, Fla.—An attorney for Ryan Routh, the man suspected of attempting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this year, indicated in court on Dec. 11 that he was showing signs of mental illness.

During a status conference with Judge Aileen Cannon, defense attorney Kristy Militello said that witnesses had described Routh as hallucinating and delusional. Militello said it could take months to interview experts to evaluate Routh’s mental health.

Cannon seemed skeptical and concerned that the court needed a more concrete or specific timeline for getting expert input. The defense also said it sought access to Routh’s childhood school records in an apparent attempt to capture his mental health history.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley Jr. criticized the idea that the defense would need to go through decades-old school records.

“Insanity is at the moment of the crime,” Shipley said, emphasizing Routh’s ability to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the criminal offense.

Pretrial considerations of Routh’s mental fitness could add to potential delays in the case, which Cannon scheduled for a trial in February. Earlier this week, the defense expressed concern about the breadth of material in pretrial discovery and requested that Cannon delay the trial until at least December 2025.

The prosecution said it was open to delay but that a delay that long was unwarranted.

In a filing on Dec. 10, Shipley told Cannon that while discovery was “indeed substantial,” much of the discovery involved content from Routh’s personal devices. Of the 18 cellphones the defense highlighted in their motion to delay, 17 belonged to the defendant, Shipley said.

“And while defense counsel may not be personally familiar with these devices, the lion’s share of their contents likely has little relevance to any serious defense,” his filing read.

During the Dec. 11 status conference, Militello, the defense attorney, said Routh may have forgotten some of the contents, which could also include information the defense attorneys were unaware of.

During the hearing, the prosecution expressed concern about Routh potentially tainting the jury pool with public statements defending himself. In both Shipley’s file and at the hearing, the prosecution referenced a recorded phone call Routh made from jail.

“In a recorded October 15, 2024 call from FDC-Miami, for example, Routh told a family member that he seeks publicity to aid his case at trial and to put out the word to jurors that he is, in his view, an honorable person,” Shipley’s filing read.

Cannon asked Shipley on Dec. 11 whether he could provide the recording for the court, and Shipley said he could. After the hearing, the court docket showed a filing in which the U.S. attorney’s office notified the court of its filing of a DVD with the recording to the court’s clerk.

“With any delay comes the increased risk that Routh, through his deliberate pre-trial publicity campaign, will impermissibly influence the jury poll, which at minimum will make it harder for this Court to seat an impartial jury,” Shipley said in his filing on Dec. 10.

He suggested during the status conference that the trial, with jury selection, could take longer than two weeks.

So far, the discovery has included electronic data downloaded from 18 phones, expert analyses, electronic data from multiple tablets and laptops, video surveillance, financial records, about 3,000 photographs, travel records, and other items.

“Reading thousands of pages of materials, watching untold hours of video, and analyzing tens of thousands of digital pages of information will require many months,” the defense’s filing read.

The prosecution said it was trying to line up multiple experts, including a ballistics expert who could speak to the range available to Routh.

The dispute over trial delay follows a separate pretrial dispute over Cannon’s impartiality. Routh moved for Cannon to recuse herself after she was randomly assigned to his case in September.

Cannon has overseen two cases involving Trump, including his classified documents case, which she dismissed in July over the legality of special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment.

Cannon denied Routh’s recusal motion, stating on Oct. 29, “I have never spoken to or met former President Trump except in connection with his required presence at an official judicial proceeding, through counsel.”

Routh, 58, has been charged with attempted assassination, along with other counts such as assaulting a Secret Service agent.

He faces potential life imprisonment, the Department of Justice said in a statement.