RICHMOND, VA (AP) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction and death sentence of Dylann Roof for the racist murder of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation in 2015, saying that the legal background can’t even capture the “horror” of what he did.
A unanimous group of three judges at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rejected arguments that Roof should have been found incompetent to be tried in the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church. Charleston.
In 2017, Roof became the first person in the United States to be sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. Authorities have said Roof opened fire during the closing prayer of a Bible study at the church, and rained dozens of bullets on those gathered. He was then 21 years old.
In their appeal, Roof’s lawyers argued that he was wrongly allowed to represent himself. during sentencing, a critical phase of his trial. Roof successfully prevented jurors from hearing evidence of his mental health, “under deception,” his lawyers argued, that he would be rescued from prison by white nationalists, but only, strangely, if he maintained his shortcomings. out of the public record “.
Roof’s lawyers said his sentences and death sentence should be vacated or his case should be returned to the courts for a “proper competition assessment.”
The 4th Circuit found that the trial judge made no mistake when it found that Roof was competent to stand trial and issued a repressed bite of Roof’s crimes.
“Dylann Roof murdered African Americans in his church, during his Bible study and worship. They had welcomed him. He killed them. He did so with the express intention of terrorizing not only his immediate victims in the historically important church of Mother Emanuel, but as many like-minded people as they had news of the mass murder, ”the group wrote.
“No cold record or careful analysis of statutes and precedents can capture the full horror of what Roof did. His crimes qualify him for the harshest punishment a just society can impose, ”the judges wrote.
One of Roof’s attorneys, Margaret Alice-Anne Farrand, an assistant public defender, declined to comment on the sentence.
All judges at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States, which covers South Carolina, waived hearing Roof’s appeal; one of his own, Judge Jay Richardson, prosecuted Roof’s case as an assistant attorney for the United States. The group that heard arguments in May and handed down the resolution on Wednesday was made up of judges from various appellate circuits.
Following his federal trial, Roof received nine consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2017 to state murder charges, leaving him awaiting execution in a federal prison and saving his victims and their families the burden of a second trial.
Last month, however, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium and stopped all federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its enforcement policies and procedures. The review comes after a historic death penalty race at the end of the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. A federal lawsuit has also been filed for enforcement protocols, including the risk of pain and suffering associated with the use of pentobarbital, the drug used for lethal injection.
President Joe Biden, as a candidate, said he would work to end federal executions. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in March that she continues to have “serious concerns” about it.
Biden has connections to the case. As vice president, Biden attended the funeral of one of the assassinations, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who also pastored the congregation. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden frequently referred to the shooting, saying a visit to Mother Emanuel helped him heal after the death of his son, Beau.
Roof’s attorneys could ask the 4th full circuit to reconsider the court’s ruling. If his direct appeal is unsuccessful, Roof can file what is known as appeal 2255 or a petition for the trial court to review the constitutionality of his conviction and sentence. He could also file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court or seek a presidential pardon.
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Kinnard reported from Houston.