Man accused of Trump assassination attempt in Florida seeks dismissal of some gun charges
FORT PIERCE, Fla, May 15, (AP): Attorneys for a man awaiting trial on federal charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at his Florida golf course asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the gun-related charges against him and bar a witness identification as 'unreliable.'
Ryan Routh appeared in a Fort Pierce courtroom as Sowmya Bharathi, an assistant federal public defender, went before a judge. Bharathi said two charges Routh faces — possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number — should be dropped under his 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010, according to court records cited previously by the Department of Justice in a statement announcing his indictment. Bharathi, however, cited a 'deep split' in circuit courts over whether 'felons could be wholesale disenfranchised from their 2nd Amendment rights.
Bharathi continued that even without a serial number on a gun, that does not take away the ability to possess a firearm.John Shipley, an assistant US attorney, countered by saying the law clearly shows an 'absolute consensus' that a firearm with an obliterated serial number is 'not a weapon with any lawful purpose.'
'The law is clear with that,' Shipley said. 'I don't think there's any precedent at all for the position they are asking you to take.' Routh is also facing charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer. Routh's trial is set for September. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in prison, federal officials have said.
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