Dylann Roof to Defend Himself at Charleston Church Shooting Trial

By Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK

28 November 16

 

he white man accused of murdering nine black churchgoers during a racist assault in South Carolina will be allowed to represent himself at trial, a federal judge has ruled.

It means Dylann Roof, 22, could have the opportunity to cross-examine survivors of the mass shooting or relatives of those he is accused of murdering should they testify during proceedings. He faces the death penalty for the alleged hate crime.

Roof made the dramatic request on Monday morning as the court continued with jury selection after a two-week delay to the trial following a competency application made by the defendant’s attorneys. The application, which was sealed by the court, was rejected last Friday during closed-door proceedings.

US district judge Richard Gergel said on Monday that he would reluctantly accept Roof’s “unwise” decision to represent himself.

After the ruling, the 22-year-old’s experienced death penalty attorney, David Bruck, moved over to allow Roof to take the lead chair, according to the Associated Press. Roof’s legal team will be allowed to assist their client if he requests help.

Opening arguments in the case are not expected to start for at least another three weeks as the court processes the 512 potential jurors into a final panel of 12 with six alternates. Gergel will question two panels of 10 potentials a day, according to the Charleston Post and Courier, until a pool of 70 remain. This pool will then be reduced further by attorneys on both sides.

Roof had previously indicated he was willing to enter a guilty plea in exchange for serving life in prison, but federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the 33 charges the defendant faces.

Roof is charged with nine counts of hate crimes resulting in death and nine counts of murder along with charges related to injuring three others during the attack in June 2015. According to police charging documents, Roof uttered racial slurs as he murdered the nine parishioners who ranged in age from 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders to 87-year-old Susie Jackson.

Roof is said to have sat through an hour of the evening Bible study class before opening fire. The class was led by the church’s pastor, 41-year-old Clementa Pinckney, a South Carolina state senator who was also killed during the attack.

The federal indictment accuses Roof of wanting “to increase racial tensions across the nation” by attacking the church and seeking “retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African Americans had committed against white people”.