Dylann Roof has already been convicted in the deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, but get this: He’ll present no evidence or even witnesses when he represents himself in the upcoming penalty phase of the trial. Mind you, he faces the death penalty.
Attorney David Bruck and his team defended Roof in the case. They argued that he was mentally ill while the prosecution shot down that claim. The judge seemed to concur with prosecutors, stopping the defense from introducing evidence that their client was mentally incompetent to stand trial. The penalty phase of the case is scheduled to begin January 3, though U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel is giving Roof the opportunity to change his mind before then.
Gergel is still deciding whether to unseal video linked to Roof’s mental competency hearing because the defendant still faces a state trial over the same crime.
Roof, who plans on giving an opening statement, admitted to killing the churchgoers in a videotaped confession shown to jurors. He told investigators, “Somebody had to do something because, you know, black people are killing white people every day on the street, and they’re raping white women.” He murdered nine people: Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, 54; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lee Lance, 70; Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Clementa C. Pinckney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Daniel Simmons, 74; Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; and Myra Thompson, 59.
[Screengrab via ABC]