Marshall Hinshaw spoke with ABC News about the alleged would-be assassin.
When Marshall Hinshaw was reading the news last year and saw his longtime friend's name in a story about an attempted assassination of Donald Trump, he said he was "shocked" -- but not totally surprised.
"I don't think that he was trying to be mean or evil or violent or anything like that. I think he was just doing what he thought was right," Hinshaw told ABC News in an exclusive interview.
Routh, who is representing himself in his trial on charges of trying to assassinate Trump on Trump's West Palm Beach golf course last year, called Hinshaw to testify as a character witness Monday.
Hinshaw, who was called to testify as a character witness, described Routh to ABC News as a spirited and reliable friend whose personal convictions might have led him into trouble.
"Does this seem like anything he would ever do?" he was asked.
"The violent part, no, but standing up for something that he believed in, maybe yeah," Hinshaw said. "If he believes strongly enough about something, I think that he would sacrifice in a personal way."
Hinshaw testified at trial that he never saw Routh behave violently or recklessly -- part of Routh's defense strategy of highlighting his self-described "gentle" nature. Routh helped Hinshaw find work, supported him and his girlfriend when they had a child, and was a reliable coworker for years, Hinshaw testified.
Prosecutors allege that Routh put together a methodical plan -- including purchasing a military-grade weapon, researching Trump's movements, and utilizing a dozen burner phones -- to kill Trump based on political grievances.
Hiding in the bushes of Trump's Palm Beach golf course and armed with a rifle, Routh allegedly came within a few hundred yards of the then-presidential nominee before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle poking out of the tree line.
Routh allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested by a local sheriff's office on a nearby interstate. Routh, who denies he was attempting to assassinate Trump, faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Speaking after the trial day on Monday night, Hinshaw expressed concern about his friend's fate but suggested there might be a method to the madness of Routh's unorthodox defense strategy.
"I think he already accepts anything that's going to happen to him," Hinshaw said.
Had Routh accepted a plea deal, the 59-year-old would have likely spent the rest of his life in prison, Hinshaw said. Going to trial gives Routh a shot at an acquittal or mistrial.
"If he accepts the plea, he accepted life in prison, which is the max he could get anyway, so he's not losing. He has nothing to lose by taking it to the jury and rejecting the plea," Hinshaw said.
With the country's fractured political environment, Hinshaw suggested that Routh might be able to sway one or two jurors, thus forcing a mistrial.
"When all of your choices are bad, you're going to make a bad choice, right? You just try to make the choice that's the least bad," Hinshaw said.