U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial for next month in the case against Ryan Routh, the 58-year-old man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last month.
Pretty quick, right?
Technically, yes, but don’t bank on a trial happening then.
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Cannon issued a similar order setting a quick trial date in Trump’s classified documents case when he was indicted in June 2023. And we all know that the Republican presidential nominee still hasn’t gone before a jury for that one.
As I noted in the former president’s case at the time:
Rights to a speedy trial provide for a trial within 70 days from indictment. But with defense motions and other routine issues, trials generally don’t happen that quickly in normal cases. And this isn’t a normal case.
I might’ve understated matters on the normalcy front, given Cannon’s subsequent strange handling of the case against the defendant who appointed her to the bench, culminating in her dismissing it entirely this summer.
But while we don’t know how the case against Routh, who pleaded not guilty this week, will proceed, it’s fair to say that it’s not a typical one either. Even if it was, it’s not unusual for trial dates to push back for any number of reasons.
Trump was initially charged in the documents case on June 8, 2023. Cannon issued an order on June 20, 2023, that said (among other things): “This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called.” Likewise, following Routh’s indictment last week, Cannon’s order this week said (among other things): “This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial … during the two-week period commencing November 18, 2024, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called.”
So the order in Routh’s case might not tell us much about when a trial will happen — if one ever does. Most cases end with pleas.
What’s more notable, perhaps, is that Cannon — whose pro-Trump bias is being called out in the pending appeal of her documents case dismissal — seems intent on handling the Routh case. Whether the defense seeks her recusal remains to be seen. But if Cannon winds up presiding over Routh’s trial, it could be months at least before that happens.
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