Dylann Roof’s Attorneys Are Trying To Overturn His Death Sentence…Again
Attorneys for white supremacist mass murderer Dylann Roof are still working at overturning the killer’s death sentence, which, of course, is more of a chance than Roof gave the nine Black people he shot and killed at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
Since the day of that tragic, senseless and horrifically racist killing, Roof’s bids to vacate his death sentence have been rejected by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. Then, in 2024, Roof was one of three federal death row inmates who were excluded from having their sentences commuted by then President Joe Biden as one of Biden’s last acts in office.
It’s unclear what Roof’s legal team expects to be different now that they have filed again with the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, but their case appears to be predicated on the argument that Roof shouldn’t have been allowed by a judge to represent himself “during jury selection and the sentencing phase of his 2017 federal capital trial to block evidence that portrayed him as autistic,” ABC 4 reported. (Because exactly what we need right now under the current White House administration is more stigmatizing of people with autism.)
From ABC 4:
Now, his current legal team suggests his trial lawyers lied to him regarding the evidence they sought to present in the case.
The latest filing also claims Roof had a communication disorder that rendered him incompetent to represent himself. It was amid the sentencing phase of the trial, Roof, representing himself, did not provide any mitigating evidence. His legal counsel now posits that the action violated his rights under the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments.
Roof’s legal team also claims Judge Gergel was mistaken for allowing him to represent himself during proceedings, despite the judge expressing it was unwise for him to do so. Attorneys also try to paint Gergel as biased against Roof, claiming the judge “had disdain” for the defense. They also claim Gergel believed Roof should “be put to death,” according to legal filings.
Look, don’t get me wrong, judicial bias in the justice system needs to be challenged, but if you can find a judge that lacks “disdain” for a man who shot and killed nine people while they were at church for no other discernible reason than they were Black, I might be even more worried about that judge’s capability to deliver justice, particularly, to Black people.
As for now, Roof is still being held on death row at Terre Haute Federal Prison in Indiana. Hopefully, he’ll stay there, but, again, under the current federal administration — where civil protections and settlements for Black people are being overturned on the daily — who really knows?
SEE ALSO:
GOP Rep Big Mad At President Biden For Not Commuting Death Sentences Of Dylann Roof, Others