In a court hearing Wednesday, the judge deciding whether to release documents and 911 calls from the shootings that killed nine parishoners at Mother Emanuel AME church said he would be willing to modify a standing gag order after a careful review of which items should be released, and which items shouldn’t.
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Jay Bender, an attorney representing The Associated Press and other media organizations during the hearing, said he expects it will be a couple weeks before Nicholson issues a decision. But the judge also welcomed comment on his gag order, which he got from seven groups, including media organizations that filed Freedom of Information Act requests with state investigators, the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper reported. He asked the judge to bar the media from “picking at it”.
Roof’s attorneys last week filed a motion with Nicholson seeking access to the prosecutor’s evidence in the shooting. The sides even agreed that transcripts of the 911 calls could be released, noting that the victims can be heard on the 911 calls after the shooting.
Bender said he expects transcripts of the calls, not the actual 911 audio tapes, to be released. Attorneys went on to say, they too are just as concerned with supporting healing and the dignity of these victims.
Judge J.C. Nicholson will hear from attorneys during a hearing Wednesday in Charleston.
The South Carolina Judge told the courtroom he will work with attorneys on a case-by-case basis to determine what can be released to the media.
The federal charges are based on evidence that Roof targeted the black victims because of their race and “in order to interfere with their exercise of religion”, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
William Nettles, the United States attorney for South Carolina, wrote in an amicus brief that Nicholson should keep the order in place.
A guilty plea by Dylann Roof, 21, in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole also would spare the victims’ families and shooting survivors from the trauma of trial proceedings, attorney Bill McGuire said.
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A meeting for attorneys and jury selection is set for November 3. Roof’s trial on the state charges has been tentatively set for July 16, 2016.
