Dylann Roof, 21, was scheduled to be arraigned in Charleston.
Advertisement
“In order for Mr. Pennington and Mr. McGuire to provide competent representation and be prepared for the trial by the date (now a little over eleven months away) set by this Court, these attorneys can not simultaneously prepare other cases for court appearances, much less try another death penalty or murder case”, they wrote.
The prosecution, particularly on hate crimes, has been expected since the June 17 shootings at Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston.
Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Roof on 33 counts, including federal hate crime and firearms charges, in the shooting that killed nine people.
The incident also sparked a national debate around the removal of the Confederate flag, symbolic of America’s slave owning past, and prompted South Carolina to remove the flag from its Capitol grounds shortly afterwards. Federal authorities have confirmed his use of a personal manuscript in which he decried integration and used racial slurs to refer to blacks.
Advertisement
“For these crimes, Roof faces penalties of up to life imprisonment or the death penalty”, said Loretta Lynch with the U.S. Department of Justice.
