Gergel estimated on Tuesday that jury selection and the guilt and penalty phases of the federal trial could last six weeks.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. A US judge on Tuesday set a November 7 date for the federal trial of the white man accused of killing nine black parishioners in a racially motivated attack at a church in Charleston a year ago.
Roof faces numerous federal counts, including hate crimes, for the shootings last June 17 at Emanuel AME Church.
Federal prosecutors announced in late May they would seek the death penalty against Roof following his indictment on 33 federal charges previous year.
Roof is thought to be the first criminal defendant facing the death penalty at both the federal and state levels, the newspaper added. During Tuesday’s hearing, a handcuffed Roof sat impassively while his attorneys told Gergel their client would be willing to plead guilty if the death penalty was not being sought.
The decision was announced last month by Attorney General Loretta Lynch who said she was compelled by “the nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm”.
State prosecutors had signalled their plans to seek the death penalty a year ago, making the case a rare instance of a defendant facing the death penalty in federal and state courts at the same time. In that trial, jury selection is scheduled for December 6.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is one of the most recent people to be sentenced to death by a federal judge. Roof had previously posed for photos with a rebel flag.
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According to a witness who survived the attack, Roof told the African-American churchgoers, “You rape our women, and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go”. But the case was delayed after the defense said doctors needed more time to complete psychiatric testing of Roof.
