Routh Judge Refuses To Declare Mistrial
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STEPHENVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) - Defense attorneys for Eddie Routh began Tuesday morning by asking that the judge declare a mistrial. They claimed that a witness for the prosecution committed perjury last week. Prosecutors said that it was a simple mistake.
Routh has been accused of killing Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, at a gun range in Erath County two years ago. He then drove to his sister's Lancaster home in Kyle's stolen truck and started saying things such as "anarchy has been killing the world," according to a police officer's testimony.
After first refusing to leave the truck when authorities arrived, Routh then attempted to flee from police. He was caught minutes later. While the defense is trying to prove that Routh was insane at the time of the killings, the prosecution has been painting the accused murderer as a frequent drug user.
Prosecutors entered drug paraphernalia as evidence on Friday, saying that a hookah, pipes, leafy substance and vials of a clear liquid were all found at Routh's home. A member of the Texas Rangers testified that he collected the evidence.
However, as the defense pointed out on Tuesday, the vials of liquid were not actually found at Routh's home. They were the remaining fluids from tests that were run by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Such things are normally taken out of the evidence bag before a trial begins.
The defense argued that the Texas Rangers member who testified that he collected the evidence had committed perjury by saying that the vials were found in Routh's home. They demanded that the judge declare a mistrial. Prosecutors said that their witness did not specifically say that he found the vials at Routh's home.
The judge ultimately denied the request for a mistrial, and did not charge the Texas Rangers member for perjury. But a lab worker was called to the witness stand to tell the jury about the vials, and they were disregarded as evidence.
After that brief delay, the trial has since continued as normal. The prosecution could rest their case as early as Tuesday.
Defense attorneys had previously tried to delay the trial after the release of the "American Sniper" film, which has made more than $300 million at the box office and was even nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards. That movie is based on Kyle's book of the same name, and stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle. It was directed by Clint Eastwood.
Gov. Greg Abbott also signed a proclamation declaring February 2 as 'Chris Kyle Day' across Texas.
You can follow Joel Thomas on Twitter (@CBS11Joel) for the latest updates from the courtroom.
