People who have seen Clint Eastwood’s hugely successful American Sniper will be allowed on the jury for the trial of Eddie Ray Routh – the man accused of murdering Chris Kyle, the sniper of the film’s title.
As the trial’s start date approaches, Texas judge Jason Cashon told potential jurors that it did not matter if they’d seen the film, as long as they could put aside “pre-trial hearsay and media reports”. But Routh’s defence lawyers are concerned the film could prevent their client from having a fair trial, the Telegraph reports.
American Sniper tells the story of Kyle, the most lethal sniper in US history with 160 confirmed kills across four tours in the Iraq war. After returning to the US, he met Routh, taking him to a gun range as the pair tried to work through post-traumatic stress disorder that Routh was suffering from, following his career as a marine. Routh is alleged to have shot and killed Kyle and his companion Chad Littlefield on the range, before fleeing in Kyle’s vehicle.
The incident is not portrayed in American Sniper, which ends as Kyle meets Routh, though it is mentioned in a postscript.
Some jurors have already been rejected for saying their minds were already made up about the case, including a schoolteacher who had followed initial reports of the shootings on Fox News. A reported 800 potential jurors are currently being whittled down to 12, ahead of the trial beginning on Wednesday next week in Erath County, Texas. Routh is pleading not guilty, by reason of insanity.
American Sniper has become the highest-grossing war film at the box office, and the most successful of Eastwood’s directorial career, with $324m (£211m) worldwide so far. It is nominated for six Academy Awards including best picture and best actor for Bradley Cooper’s performance as Kyle.
