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Federal Death Row Inmate Appealing Sentence

By Adam Pinsker

Posted May 25, 2021

Dylann Roof

Dylann Roof (Charleston County South Carolina Sheriff's Office)

Attorneys for a federal death row inmate are trying to overturn their client’s death sentence.

Dylann Roof was sentenced to death for a mass shooting at a South Carolina Church in 2015.

He is currently one of 46 death row inmates housed at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute.

Roof shot and killed nine parishioners at the Mother Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17, 2015.  All of the victims were Black.

In December 2016, Roof was found guilty of 33 federal charges including 12 counts of committing a hate crime. 

His defense attorneys argued Roof’s trial judge should have never allowed Roof to represent himself during the sentencing phase of his trial. 

Roof’s trial judge Richard Gergel held two competency hearings, one before his trial and one before his sentencing.

On Tuesday, Roof’s attorneys said Gergel excluded evidence from medical experts in Roof’s second hearing that would have argued against his competency.

“Disruptions in Mr. Roof’s cranium that indicate he was suffering from Schizophrenia and related disorders,” said Roof's attorney Sapna Mirchandani, in describing the findings of a doctor who examined Roof prior to the second hearing. 

Roof represented himself during the sentencing phase of the trial and prevented jurors from hearing about his mental state under the impression he would be rescued by white nationalists. 

But government attorneys say there was ample evidence Roof wasn’t serious about his argument that he would be saved by white supremacists.

“He wasn’t stuck on this, he was able to joke about it, he was able to accept other information that even though this is something that would be great if it happened, he’s not counting on it,” U.S. Attorney Ann Adams said.

A three-judge panel will determine if Roof’s death sentence should be vacated. No execution date has been set for Roof, and a federal execution hasn’t taken place since January 16th, 2021.

Congress is crafting legislation to abolish the federal death penalty, but a vote on the bill hasn’t been scheduled.

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