The lawyers of 22-year old #DylannRoof have filed a 34-page motion Monday to prevent the federal prosecution from seeking the death penalty in his trial citing it violated both the eighth and fifth amendments. Roof is responsible for murdering nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina. On June 17 of 2015, a then 21-year old Roof drove more than one hundred miles from his home in Columbia to the historical Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. He sat in on the routine bible study with the unsuspecting members that welcomed him. While they prayed, Roof began shooting. He killed nine people, deliberately leaving a female survivor so that she could tell everyone what happened. When interrogated, Roof acknowledged his actions were intended to start a race war.
Roof’s attorneys admitted “the facts of this case are indisputably grave”. However, they contended that “this Court should rule that the federal death penalty constitutes a legally prohibited, arbitrary, cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by both the Fifth and Eighth Amendments.” The lawyers continued, “no one can be lawfully sentenced to death or executed under it, no matter what his crimes.” The attorneys also stated in the motion that if the government would remove the death penalty in the near future, Roof would “plead guilty as charged to all counts in the indictment”.
This isn’t the first time Roof’s attorneys have filed a motion. On June 13 of this year, a filing by Roof’s attorneys was reviewed. The motion requested to have Roof’s trial go before a judge instead of jury. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel decided that Roof will stand trial before a jury and if convicted of capital crimes, the jury will hear arguments for a possible death sentence.
Roof’s trial is set to begin November 7, 2016. #BallerAlert #InTheNews
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