The expert warns the self-representation of Roth could prove to be “ disastrous ” in the case of Trump assassination

Ryan Routh – Accused of having tried to assassinate President Donald Trump while he was a major candidate in the 2024 elections in his Florida golf club last year – chose to stand out in court, a decision that a legal expert could prove to be disastrous.

Cully Simson, a former prosecutor, lawyer and defense judge, told Fox News Digital only if the Constitution guarantees the right to self-representation, it is “almost always a mistake”.

“It really makes no sense for someone to defend themselves, especially in a serious case,” he said. “They have the right to do so, but it’s not careful.”

The trial of Ryan Routh opens on the bizarre questions of the jury and the drama of the witnesses

Ryan Wesley Routh participates in a rally in the center of kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday April 30, 2022. (Photo Efrem Lukatsky / AP)

The self-representation creates risks and a dynamic of the unusual courtroom where the judge and the prosecutor “must punch” to protect the record and “essentially protect the defendant from himself”.

A experienced lawyer for defense knows how to put prosecutors to the test, forcing them to prove all the elements of the case and threw the basics of potential calls carefully. When a defendant represents himself, said Simson, this type of strategy is completely missing.

“And therefore what ends up happening is the judge and the prosecutor must play, in a strange way, a defensive role, in addition to the role of the judge being a neutral and impartial arbiter of the law, and the prosecutor is simply the person who pleads in favor of the government.

Trial of Ryan Routh: the selection of the jury begins in the attempted assassination of Trump

Selection of the jury for the trial of Ryan Routh, who is accused of having tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, began on Monday. (Lothar Speer)

Simson said defense lawyers “generally push the limits” and force the government to oppose, but when someone represents themselves, lawyers hold back “because it will not be intelligent enough or educated enough to oppose it”.

This can sometimes create an atmosphere where a “right to a fair trial” can become biased – and this is something that law students also study.

“It is this sophisticated point that laws in law speak and that lawyers speak. If you had a public defender or a private defense lawyer who was not very good and made a certain number of errors during the trial, if the guy is condemned, one of the first things on appeal is that you will ask for an ineffective assistance of a lawyer,” said Simson.

“You cannot claim an ineffective advice assistance when you represent yourself.”

When asked if there were advantages for self-representation in a federal trial, Simson said: “I guess that a pro would be to conduct his defense exactly as he wanted.”

“For example, in the Long Island Shooter case, no criminal defense lawyer was going to let this nut work to act in court and be the Wackko it was,” he said.

The attempted assassination of Trump suspicious Ryan Routh can stand up at the trial, federal judge rules

The assassin suspected of the assassin Ryan Routh was arrested by the police in Florida. (Office / Document of the Sheriff of the county of Martin via Reuters)

As in the notorious affair of 1993 on Long Island Rail Road, the condemned killer Colin Ferguson chose to represent himself and even took the position of the witness to question his own victims.

Roth pleaded not guilty of the federal accusations of having tried to assassinate a great presidential candidate and to attack a federal officer. Prosecutors say he was armed with an AK -style rifle when secret service agents stopped him near Trump golf course West Palm Beach in September 2024.

The trial is expected to last for several weeks, but the judge named Trump, Aileen Cannon, urged the two parties to maintain effective procedures.

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Opening declarations are temporarily scheduled for Thursday, September 11, if the panel is seated on time.