Why Eddie Ray Routh Didn't Get a Fair Trial

By Hailey Foglio
February 9, 2015

Note before you read: This post is not intended to be a discussion about the life or death of Chris Kyle. This post is about Eddie Ray Routh.

For those of you who don’t know, Eddie Ray Routh is on trial for killing Chris Kyle, an American Navy SEAL who is being lauded as a true “American hero” as “the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.”

Like I said, we’re not going to get into the rhetoric of the phrase “American hero” or any similar territory. What we’re going to get into is the seriously problematic fact that Eddie Ray Routh will not get a fair trial.

We all know that Eddie Ray Routh did kill Chris Kyle; no one is disputing that fact. But even someone who is guilty of a crime deserves a fair trial in front of an unbiased jury in a community that is not collectively fighting to destroy him. That’s what the justice system is. Or rather, what it’s supposed to be.

You might be thinking to yourself, “If he’s guilty, why does it matter how the court goes about coming to that conclusion? What’s the difference between a fair or an unfair trial when we all know he did it?”

I think this is a question that a lot of people consider when it comes to situations like this, and that’s part of the problem. Trials are not there only to determine guilt, but also to determine length of sentencing, location that the convicted individual will serve his time (eg. prison v. mental facility), etc.

The fact is, Eddie Ray Routh will not get a fair trial. And here’s my three-part explanation for why:

1. PTSD.

By and large, mentally ill individuals on trial are destined for an unfair trial. There’s no kind or politically correct way to say that. If you commit a crime and you have a mental illness, odds are that that fact is going to work against you in a big way. The reason for this is that, as I’ve said in past posts, people don’t (and don’t want to) understand mental illness.

When people look at Eddie Ray Routh, all they see is “that crazy guy who shot that truly honorable American hero.” In this way, everyone from jurors in the courtroom to media outlets across the nation begin the slow process of villainizing the mentally ill. 

 In fact, there is so much controversy over Eddie Ray Routh’s PTSD that independent groups of veterans (one, in particular) are actually going out of their way to prove that Eddie Ray Routh did not have PTSD. To do so, they’re coming up with, well, let’s just call them “alternative theories.” 

Here’s an excerpt from an article from Truth Revolt. This article draws on comments made by The Warfighter Foundation, who stated:

“Eddie Routh served one tour in Iraq in 2007, at Balad Air Base (the 2nd largest U.S. installation in Iraq), with no significant events. No combat experience. Let me say that again, he NEVER SAW COMBAT or any aspect of traumatic events associated with a combat deployment (i.e. incoming mortar or rocket fire). He never left the base, EVER.”

This, of course, is inferring that you can’t have PTSD if you don’t hold a gun and/or get shot at, which is fundamentally untrue. The most concerning thing in the article, however, is this:

“Walid Shoebat, a former radicalized Muslim terrorist and member of the PLO who has since converted to Christianity, believes that because of his past and credentials, he is confident in his deduction that Eddie Routh was in fact becoming a radical Muslim, although there is no proof yet of the conversion.

‘During a phone call with his father, Routh expressed sympathy for the detainees and discontent over how the US was conducting the war as well as his reluctance to engage in combat’ and ‘While working as a guard at Balad Air Base, Routh laments his [Muslim] prisoners’ poor living conditions.'”

While they assert at first that Eddie Ray Routh couldn’t have possibly had any experience whatsoever to cause him PTSD, he was obviously involved in some capacity with detainees, enough to form significant opinions about their living conditions.

The bigger issue at play here is that somehow, because Eddie Ray Routh “expressed sympathy” and lamented the prisoners’ living conditions, he’s less of a soldier or less of a hero or even less of a person, and that that sympathy somehow began transforming him into a “radical Muslim.”

What I’m trying to point out here is that people will do and say whatever is necessary to pull any discussion of mental illness away from the courtroom conversation. Many people view mental illness and insanity pleas as cop-outs, and somehow, even the mention of a mental illness-related crime fuels the flames of denial and unrest.

But the ability to address and discuss Eddie Ray Routh’s PTSD is integral to the trial, and already there are people trying to throw that discussion out the window.

2. A soldier was killed.

The United States puts a lot of stock in its military. So much so that it results in a national sense of hero worship. Thus, when one of our “heroes” is killed or taken away in some other capacity, it’s seen as a national tragedy.

In many articles, you’ll see Eddie Ray Routh referred to as a “terrorist” or a “Muslim-sympathizer” or something similar, though there’s no evidence to support the claim that he had any terrorist intents to begin with, and the term “Muslim-sympathizer” is highly problematic in its own right.

In fact, reactions against the killing of Chris Kyle have become so severe that they’re bordering on dangerous. After tweeting about Chris Kyle’s questionable comments in his autobiography, journalist Rania Khalek began receiving horrific feedback, a demonstration of the increasing xenophobic tendencies that are beginning to take root in this country. An example:

“@RaniaKhalek Move your American hating ass to Iraq, let ISIS rape you then cut your head off, fucking media whore Muslim #AmericanSniper”

Then, this same person tweeted:

“Dear #ISIS please kidnap @RaniaKhalek and cut her head off, after you and all your camels fuck her #AmericanSniper #ChrisKyle”

There are hundreds of these comments on twitter, Facebook, online media outlets, etc. Somehow, Chris Kyle’s death and the impending Eddie Ray Routh trial has created a hurricane of hatred-fueled vitriol to permeate through the nation. Because Chris Kyle was a soldier, his death has resulted in a national us vs. them debate, with citizens being forced to pledge their allegiance to the American military or risk being attacked. For these people, Eddie Ray Routh typifies the “enemy,” and they have no plans to consider the matter from any angle other than Eddie Ray Routh = dead American hero.

This insurgence of hatred and violence will prove to be inseparable from the Eddie Ray Routh trial, as members of the jury will have this national commentary playing in the back of their minds.

3. American Sniper.

In 2012, Chris Kyle wrote an autobiography titled American Sniper: The Autobiography of the most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. Clint Eastwood adapted the book into a feature-length film called American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle. Now, I don’t think that Clint Eastwood intended for what happened after the film’s release to happen. From everything I’ve researched about him in relation to this film, it seems like the film was intended to be a shades of gray film, attempting to show the true non-black and white nature of war and the military and what it’s like to be a soldier.

Here are a couple twitter reactions to the film:

“Nice to see a movie where the Arabs are portrayed for who they really are — vermin scum intent on destroying us #Deblasio #AmericanSniper”

“I wish I weren’t too old and fat to go shoot some ragheads. Hoorah! #AmericanSniper”

The problem with American Sniper, whether intended or not, is that it seems to have somehow glorified the military, being a sniper, killing the “enemy,” etc. That’s what audiences are picking up on. The issue with these reactions is, of course, the same as the reactions to Rania Khalek’s comments on Chris Kyle’s life and autobiography.

The bigger problem with the film, in terms of the trial, is that it was released on January 16, 2015. Eddie Ray Routh’s trial starts on February 11, 2015. This film was released less than a month before Eddie Ray Routh has to go to court. Not to sound conspiracy theory-ish, but no, I don’t think that was a coincidence. Do I think Clint Eastwood had anything to do with that? No. Do I think that someone involved in the release of this film saw the opportunity to capitalize on the impact it was certain to have? Yes. I do.

 

If the American public managed to accept the fact that Chris Kyle had PTSD, if the American public somehow saw past the hero worship phenomenon surrounding Chris Kyle’s life and death, this film still would have ruined the entire trial.

Long story short: Eddie Ray Routh doesn’t have a shot in hell at getting a fair trial. And that’s a problem.

Current music: None.



By Nightline (click link for video)
February 25, 2015

A defense attorney for Eddie Ray Routh, who was convicted of capital murder in the “American Sniper” trial, said the fact that some jurors had seen the movie did not hurt their case.

The movie “American Sniper,” which was up for six Oscars this past weekend, including Best Picture, is based on the memoir of famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

A Texas jury of 10 women and two men found Routh guilty Tuesday of killing Kyle and Kyle’s friend Chad Littlefield during a trip to a gun range Feb. 2, 2013. After the verdict, it was revealed that several members of the jury saw the movie before being selected to serve on the trial, but they maintained it did not interfere with their ability to fairly judge Routh. 

Attorney Shay Isham, who was part of the team that defended Routh, said in an interview with ABC News’ "Nightline" that there were concerns about selecting jurors for the highly publicized case, but they didn't see the movie as a reason to dismiss them.

“I’ve been picking juries here for 19 years and in a whole lot of other counties, too. Just because someone has seen the movie doesn't automatically disqualify them,” Isham said. “Most of the people that can do that job and can take an oath to not be leaning one way or the other, and wait until the evidence is finished to make up their mind and deliberate the case; most of them that tell me that, they can set that aside.” 

“There wasn't very many jurors dismissed because of too much pretrial publicity because they've seen so much or read so much that they already had their mind made up,” he added. "You get 10 strikes in a criminal case in the state of Texas and so there’s a whole bunch of things that go into whether you want to exercise one of those precious few strikes that you have."

Routh had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and his attorneys had argued the former Marine had mental disorders and was in the grips of psychosis when he fatally shot Kyle and Littlefield.

Because Routh’s lawyers never disputed he killed the two men, the biggest question the jurors had to answer was whether they thought he was legally insane or whether he was faking his claims of insanity.

Seven members of the 12-person jury spoke to ABC News today about how they came to the unanimous decision after two and a half hours Tuesday night.

"That was something that we really had to figure out," juror Kristina Yager told ABC News. "In the beginning, I know a lot of us came into the jury questioning that, but evidence shows that there was a real definite pattern there." 

"When I say there’s a pattern that we saw, he would get intoxicated, get in trouble, and then the police would show up and he would say ‘I'm a veteran, I have PTSD, I'm insane,’ you know, and every time something bad happened he pulled that card," Yager said.

Routh’s mental state was at the crux of the case, with both sides presenting experts who disputed different diagnoses up until the final hours of the trial.

While calling rebuttal witnesses to the stand Tuesday, the defense also re-called Dr. Mitchell Dunn, the psychiatrist who concluded Routh was insane in earlier testimony.

Isham, Routh’s attorney, said he doesn't second-guess using the insanity defense for Routh.

“I don’t think it was a gamble that the insanity defense was what we provided,” he said. “[It was] the most viable defensive theory because of his trips to the [Veterans Affairs] mental hospital and Green Oaks mental hospital, and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. There were other experts also that thought he was legally insane.”

And Isham added that PTSD was “never a part of the defense strategy.”

“Mental illness was what he was diagnosed with, mental illness was what he went to the hospital for,” he said.

Routh was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but Isham said he expects an appeal to be filed in this case.

Related:

• 'American Sniper' Trial: Why Jurors Who Saw the Movie Were Still Picked
• 'American Sniper' Trial: What Evidence Convinced the Jury to Convict Eddie Ray Routh