The man charged with attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Nicholas John Roske, appears to be headed for trial. 

“As of this date, the parties have not been able to agree upon the terms for a pretrial resolution of this case,” a court filing published Friday reads. “Accordingly, the government requests a scheduling conference to set in dates for pretrial motions and trial.”

The government’s report adds that “counsel for the defendant has advised that he joins in this request.” 

Since 2022, defense attorneys and prosecutors in the case have been engaged in “ongoing discussions” in an attempt to come to a pretrial resolution — likely a plea bargain – which is the way a large majority of cases in the American judicial system are resolved, rather than going to trial. Defendants who insist on going to trial, rather than pleading guilty, usually face much harsher sentences if they lose in court.

Mr. Roske, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of traveling to Maryland from California to murder Justice Kavanaugh. Law enforcement said at around 1:00 a.m. on June 8, he was “dressed in black clothing and carrying a backpack and a suitcase,” and stopped outside of Justice Kavanaugh’s residence. 

A search of his belongings yielded tactical gear and “a pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items,” the Justice Department says. He allegedly told detectives that he was angry after the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization as well as the Uvalde, Texas school shooting. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. 

The Sun has reached out to both prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case for comment. 
A trial for Mr. Roske is likely to further highlight the issue of threats against the Supreme Court — and the judicial system at-large — that has been accelerating in recent years. Justice Samuel Alito, when speaking with the Wall Street Journal, said the justices in the majority after the Dobbs leak became “targets of assassination,” as people thought “they might be able to stop the decision in Dobbs by killing one of us.”