Judge Aileen Cannon this week rejected Trump would-be assassin Ryan Routh’s attempt to unseal a jury questionnaire.
The judge will also hold a closed status conference to discuss the questions related to the jury questionnaire.
Law & Crime reported:
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has rejected a request from the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump to have the jury questionnaire in his upcoming criminal trial unsealed.
The denial marks the latest legal rebuff for Ryan Routh, a 59-year-old man accused of hiding out with a rifle at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024, in hopes of shooting the then-Republican nominee for president. While discussing pre-jury selection procedures, Routh’s lawyers objected to a proposed plan to keep the jury questionnaire sealed before the trial.
Cannon outlined the two parts that would take place in a status conference regarding jury selection procedures. Part one, she said, would be public and “unrestricted” regarding the general logistics of jury selection, while part two would “proceed in sealed session and focus on a substantive discussion of the proposed juror questionnaire itself.”
It is this juror questionnaire that Routh’s legal team wanted unsealed, but Cannon, a Trump appointee who also presided over and later dismissed his Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, denied this request and additionally found that making part two of the conference publicly available would carry “significant risk.”
Last year federal prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate after he pushed the muzzle of his rifle through the fence line at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.
Ryan Routh was previously charged with two federal gun crimes: Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession (max penalty of 15 years in prison and $250,000 fine), and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (max penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine).
Routh set up a sniper’s nest in the shrubbery outside the perimeter of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach.
In the area of the tree line from which Routh fled, agents found a Go-Pro, two backpacks, a loaded SKS-style, 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope, and a black plastic bag containing food.
One of the backpacks contained ceramic tiles police believe could have been used as a shield/body armor.
Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty to federal charges stemming from his attempted assassination against President Trump.
This week’s set back for Routh comes after Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, refused to recuse herself from this case.
