John Jefferson
Federal prosecutors requested an indefinite delay Wednesday in scheduling the trial for Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second assassination attempt on former President Trump, citing an enormous amount of evidence gathered since his arrest.
In a filing on Wednesday, prosecutors asked Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon to officially designate Routh’s case as “complex.”
Prosecutors revealed the scope of the investigation, which spanned multiple states, involved hundreds of interviews and included hundreds of digital media for review.
“The government has worked diligently since September 15 to investigate the incident. Over the past two weeks, the United States has interviewed hundreds of witnesses,” the filing said. “It has also executed 13 search warrants in Florida, Hawaii, and North Carolina, and seized hundreds of items of evidence, including multiple electronic devices.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS FORMALLY CHARGE SUSPECT RYAN ROUTH WITH ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF TRUMP
Investigators claimed that they have more than 100 outstanding subpoena returns that are still pending, and they estimate that they have “thousands of videos to review” from the large volume of electronic devices seized.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT WROTE CHILLING LETTER MONTHS BEFORE GOLF COURSE PLOT
“All videos, still images, text files, and audio files constitute approximately 4,000 terabytes (4 million gigabytes) of digital review to complete,” the filing said.
The filing noted that the FBI is continuing to conduct forensic tests on evidence, including ballistic testing, and fingerprint and DNA comparisons, saying that the evidence would likely include them preparing several expert witnesses to testify.
Due to the sheer amount of evidence collected, prosecutors asked Cannon for the trial to be delayed indefinitely to allow adequate time for parties to review the discovery and determine which motions need to be filed.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT ROUTH NOT TO BE RELEASED
The government also requested that the motion deadlines, calendar call, and trial date set be delayed indefinitely. According to the filing, Routh’s defense attorneys did not oppose prosecutors’ request to delay the trial date.
Routh is facing attempted assassination charges. He was previously charged federally with possessing a gun with a scratched-out number and with possessing a gun illegally as a felon. He was ordered by a federal judge to remain in custody.
Routh pleaded not guilty in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida.
On September 15, Routh allegedly hid in the bushes outside Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with a rifle as Trump was playing.
Authorities said a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of the gun sticking out and immediately opened fire. Routh allegedly took off, but was arrested a short time later.
Read the full article here