A federal judge on Tuesday set November 7 for jury selection in Dylann Roof’s federal trial on hate crimes and other charges in last year’s slayings at Emanuel AME Church.
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Roof is now facing a possible death sentence in both the federal and state trials, which have been delayed multiple times and are currently set to occur within a period of several weeks, though the state’s trial is expected to be rescheduled.
Roof is accused of entering the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston and shooting 10 people.
On May 24, federal prosecutors announced they meant to seek the death penalty against Roof, who is charged with murder and hate crimes.
The state of SC already has made a decision to seek the death penalty in a separate trial scheduled for January.
Defence attorney David Bruck said his client’s offer to plead guilty stands.
“The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision”, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. In that trial, jury selection is scheduled for December 6.
The killings, which have been recognized as one of the more notorious mass killings in recent American history, sparked nationwide outrage and led to the lowering of the Confederate flag in front of South Carolina’s State House in Columbia.
Due in part to problems in obtaining lethal injection drugs, no one has been executed in SC since 2011. Since 1988, the government has sought the death penalty against 502 defendants.
Roof was originally to go on trial in state court this July. But the case was delayed after the defense said doctors needed more time to complete psychiatric testing of Roof.
Last year, with the July trial date set, state prosecutor Scarlett Wilson had written Gergel saying the state preferred to prosecute Roof first.
She said after Tuesday’s hearing that the state is cooperating with federal prosecutors and the important thing is bringing justice to the families of the victims.
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In its filing, the DOJ lists Roof’s racial motivation in the killings as a factor in deciding to pursue the death penalty.
