‘American Sniper’ trial postponed until Tuesday morning

Testimony in Eddie Ray Routh’s capital murder trial was postponed Monday because of bad weather and was scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Donald R. Jones Justice Center in downtown Stephenville.

The trial is in the home stretch. The jury is expected to get the case Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday after hearing testimony from rebuttal witnesses.

Routh, 27, is charged with capital murder in the Feb. 2, 2013, shooting deaths of Chad Littlefield, 35, and Chris Kyle, 38, the legendary Navy SEAL sniper depicted in the movie American Sniper. Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, who has not missed a day of the trial, attended the Academy Awards on Sunday night in Los Angeles. The movie was nominated in several categories and won an Oscar for best sound editing.

Chris Kyle and Littlefield were gunned down at a shooting range near Glen Rose during what was supposed to be a beneficial outing to help Routh, a troubled Marine veteran.

Defense attorneys are arguing that Routh is not guilty by reason of insanity, a defense that requires them to prove that Routh was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect at the time of the slayings and did not know that his conduct was wrong. Last week, they called a psychiatrist who testified that Routh was schizophrenic at the time of the killings and was paranoid that Kyle and Littlefield were “pig hybrids” sent to kill people.

The prosecutors maintain that Routh had a mood or personality disorder exacerbated by chronic use of marijuana. They contend that his actions after the killings — including fleeing the scene and leading police on a chase — illustrated that he knew what he did was wrong.

On Friday, the prosecution called witnesses to rebut the defense team’s case and is expected to call more witnesses on Tuesday. The defense could also call rebuttal witnesses.

The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty. If convicted of capital murder, Routh would receive an automatic life sentence without possibility of parole. If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be committed to a state mental institution for treatment for an unspecified period.

@melodymlanier

This story was originally published February 23, 2015 at 10:32 AM with the headline "‘American Sniper’ trial postponed until Tuesday morning."