Photo: NICOLAS GARCIA / AFP / Getty Images
In a pace that's gone faster than expected, the Ryan Routh trial heads to closing arguments tomorrow.
The defense has rested in the case of the alleged would-be assassin of President Donald Trump. Today marked the start of the third week of the trial. The judge had initially set aside four weeks for it.
Routh, who is acting as his own attorney, took about three hours to call his three witnesses to the stand in a Fort Pierce federal courtroom. They included an expert in sniper tactics whose questions dealt with the performance of the rifle found at the scene.
Routh appears to want the jury to believe the weapon was a cheap, mostly malfunctioning rifle which would not be something a professional assassin would use.
Reporters in the courtroom say that the defendant is suggesting that his intention was never to shoot Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, rather to point it at the then-presidential candidate and flee the scene, without firing a shot.
Routh did not testify himself.
Jury instructions are scheduled for this afternoon and it's believed that prosecutors may not present a rebuttal to Routh's witnesses.
Judge Aileen Cannon has scheduled closing arguments for Tuesday morning.