November trial for man charged in church attack

The federal trial of Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine black parishioners at a Charleston, S.C., church a year ago, is scheduled to begin in November.

A federal judge in SC is scheduled to hold another hearing on the status of the case against a white man charged in the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church a year ago.

At Dylann Roof’s first hearing since federal prosecutors announced they are pursuing the death penalty, we’ve learned the date of when the federal trial for the admitted Emanuel AME Church shooting suspect will take place. His state trial on multiple murder charges is scheduled to be held in January.

The federal trial was pushed back while the Justice Department weighed whether it would seek a rare sentence under the federal death penalty statute.

Defense attorneys and federal prosecutors said they felt they had enough time to prepare their case.

Gergel said that between 1,200 and 1,500 potential jurors might be summoned from throughout the state. In that trial, jury selection is scheduled for December 6.

In court, Roof’s federal attorneys reiterated that he would be willing to plead guilty if capital punishment was ruled out. The site, which included photos of Roof holding a.45-caliber Glock pistol and a Confederate flag, was last modified just hours before the shooting attack.

Due in part to problems in obtaining lethal injection drugs, no one has been executed in SC since 2011.

Under the federal death penalty statute, a victim’s youth or old age can be an aggravating factor warranting a fatal sentence.

The state solicitor who will prosecute a white man charged in the killings of nine black church members says the state is ready to go with its case whether it’s before or after the federal government. He attended Tuesday’s hearing.

State prosecutor Scarlett Wilson has said previously that while not all the families of the nine people killed want her to seek the death penalty, the state will argue that Roof be put to death if he is convicted in a state trial set for next year.