Public defenders for Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President-elect Trump at one of his Florida golf courses, asked a federal judge to delay his criminal trial over an "extraordinary volume" of discovery with just two months to go.
The attorneys said preparing a "case of this magnitude" for trial could not be done well by the established Feb. 10 trial date, especially as they continue work on other cases. They asked the judge to push the trial back by 10 months, until December 2025.
"Proceeding with the scheduled trial or anytime soon thereafter — on charges punishable by life imprisonment — would result in a miscarriage of justice," public defenders Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola wrote in a court filing late Sunday night.
Routh faces five charges, including counts saying he attempted to assassinate a major political candidate while possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number despite being a convicted felon. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say Routh plotted to kill Trump as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, staking out the perimeter of the former president's course near its sixth hole for about 12 hours until he was noticed and fled.
In the new filing, Routh's public defenders said the government's discovery production only became accessible on Nov. 19, more than four months after his indictment. Two other batches were largely made available by Saturday, and discovery remains ongoing, they said.
The discovery so far includes electronic data downloaded from 18 phones, three computers, three tablets and five storage disks, in addition to expert analyses, phone company records, 3,000 photographs and other evidence.
Routh has not yet been able to view it all, they said.
"The discovery in this case is expansive," Militello and Sihvola said. "Just one terabyte has the capacity to hold text files equivalent to the information contained in enough books to fill twelve floors of a typical academic library. This case involves several terabytes of discovery materials and over nine expert witnesses."
Prosecutors said they will be prepared for trial in February but do not oppose a "reasonable" delay. However, a continuance until December 2025 is not reasonable, they said.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, set a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the matter. She ordered the government to respond to Routh’s motion by Tuesday.
