Welp … you know what they say: “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
Dylann Roof, the man who admitted to shooting nine people to death in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church in June 2015 has been given the go-ahead to represent himself in his federal hate crime trial. Roof was declared competent to stand trial last Friday after the proceedings were delayed to determine his competency. Jury selection is currently underway in his federal trial:
Roof … filed a motion to dismiss his court-appointed attorneys and represent himself. After a short interview by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, Roof was allowed to proceed and took over the lead counsel chair. He allowed David Bruck and Sarah Gannett to remain at the table with him.
Bruck and Gannett will serve as standby counsel in the event Roof needs help.
Roof told the court he is capable of filing objections, motions, and handling witness questioning. He said Monday morning he was prepared to begin the jury selection process as scheduled.
In the first panel of the day, three of 10 jurors made it through to the next round of voir dire. The second panel is set to begin at 1 p.m. [Eastern time] … groups of 10 prospective jurors will gather in the courtroom for questioning until attorneys amass a group of 70. Only two groups will be questioned each day.
The final jury seating will feature 12 primary jurors and 6 alternates.
Roof had already been declared competent to stand trial on state charges of murder. That trial will begin once the federal trial reaches its conclusion.