Man who tried to assassinate Trump on golf course requests attorney for sentencing

ORLANDO Fla AP A man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf class last year has decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself as he did for majority of of the trial The sentencing hearing for Ryan Routh in Fort Pierce Florida was pushed back from this week to early February after he requested and was granted an attorney to represent him during the sentencing and appeal phases of the trial The federal courtroom erupted into chaos in September shortly after jurors revealed Routh guilty on all counts including attempting to kill a presidential candidate and several firearm-related charges Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen and officers hastily dragged him out The pen Routh used was flexible to prevent people in custody from using it as a weapon Prosecutors announced Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the then-Republican presidential candidate played golf on Sept at his West Palm Beach country club At Routh s trial a Secret Facility agent helping protect Trump on the golf unit testified that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view Routh aimed his rifle at the agent who opened fire causing Routh to drop his weapon and run away without firing a shot In the motion requesting an attorney Routh offered to transaction his life in a prisoner swap with inmates unjustly held in other countries and explained an offer still stood for Trump to take out his frustrations on my face Just a quarter of an inch further back and we all would not have to deal with all of this mess forwards but I invariably fail at everything par for the unit Routh wrote In her decision granting Routh an attorney U S District Judge Aileen Cannon chastised the disrespectful charade of Routh s motion saying it made a mockery of the proceedings But the judge nominated by Trump in reported she required to err on the side of legal representation Cannon signed off on Routh s request to represent himself following two hearings in July The U S Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have the right to represent themselves in court proceedings as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney Routh s former defense attorneys served as standby counsel and were present during the trial Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky mikeysid bsky social Source