The man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course won't face trial until September of next year.
Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to delay Routh's trial over the large body of evidence in the case, but she rejected his request for a postponement until December 2025 as "excessive."
Routh had been scheduled to face a jury in February, but the trial has been pushed back to September 8, 2025, almost a year after Routh tried to kill Trump on September 15, 2024.
A Secret Service agent had spotted Routh lying in wait with a rifle while Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
The agent fired his gun at Routh, who fled in his car down Interstate 95 before being captured in Martin County.
Routh has pled not guilty to the five federal crimes with which he is charged, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
In a court order Monday, Judge Cannon agreed to some delay given the seriousness of the charges Routh faces but rejected his request for a December trial as "excessive."
"Upon review of the full record, and following the status conference held on December 11, 2024, the Court determines that a continuance of trial from the current setting of February 10, 2025, is warranted to accommodate what both parties agree is substantial discovery in this case," Cannon wrote.
Cannon came to national attention while overseeing President Trump's classified documents trial. The judge dismissed the Biden Justice Department's case in July, just days after Trump survived a first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Routh had requested Cannon's recusal, citing her appointment by Trump and his praise of her rulings, but Cannon refused.
“I have never spoken to or met former President Trump except in connection with his required presence at an official judicial proceeding, through counsel,” Cannon wrote. “I have no ‘relationship to the alleged victim’ in any reasonable sense of the phrase.”
The prosecution of Routh has seen a legal feud between the feds and state prosecutors allied with Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R), who have accused the Biden Justice Department of stonewalling.
Florida attorney general Ashley Moody announced state charges of felony murder against Routh last week, accusing him of causing a car crash that left a six-year-old girl gravely injured.
"The basis for the arrest warrant is that Routh committed an enumerated felony—here, domestic terrorism—and that felony seriously injured and could have killed a six-year-old girl," a press release said.
