Judge Aileen Cannon set a schedule on Tuesday for Ryan Routh‘s court proceedings that positions his trial start date in mid-November, when a jury is set to decide if he is guilty of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
Cannon scheduled the trial to begin in federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Nov. 18, two weeks after Election Day.
Routh is facing five charges stemming from his alleged attempt to kill Trump this month while the former president was golfing at Trump International Golf Club. Routh staked out at the perimeter of the golf course with a loaded semiautomatic rifle, but Secret Service agents spotted him before he could take a shot at Trump, according to authorities.
The Justice Department brought an indictment against Routh over allegations that he attempted to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessed a firearm as a convicted felon, possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and other charges.
If convicted, Routh faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, was randomly assigned to Routh’s case after she presided over the former president’s classified documents case. That Trump case is in the hands of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit after she dismissed the charges.
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The judge was quick to set a schedule for Routh’s case after she faced relentless criticism from Trump’s opponents for conducting the classified documents proceedings at a slow pace. Cannon, however, also speedily set a trial in Trump’s case days after he was indicted last year. Because of numerous pretrial hurdles and the general complexity of Trump’s charges, the case’s initial trial date was scrapped, and it was never rescheduled.
Routh pleaded not guilty to all of his charges on Monday. public defenders are representing him in court after he told the court he could not afford a lawyer.