Source: Handout / Getty
CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) –
A federal court has found accused Emanuel AME Church shooter Dylann Roof competent to stand trial.
Jury selection for the case will resume next Monday at 9 a.m.
Roof, 22, is accused of shooting and killing nine parishioners an hour after joining them in bible study on June 17, 2015. The suspect pleaded not guilty after being arraigned on 33 federal charges.
Before jury selection was scheduled to begin on Nov. 7, Roof’s lawyers moved to have the suspect analyzed by a doctor who could determine whether or not he was suffering a “mental disease or defect” that may make him unable to understand what was going on in court.
Court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. James Ballenger reported on Roof’s competency in a two-day hearing earlier this week. The hearing included four other witnesses and testimony by sworn affidavits of three others, a court document filed Friday says.
Proceedings happened behind closed doors, away from the public and the media. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel has ordered that transcripts of the competency hearing remain sealed at this time.
READ MORE: Cleveland19.com
Article Courtesy of WCSC-TV Charleston, SC and WOIO Cleveland 19 News
Picture Courtesy of Handout and Getty Images
Dylann Roof Is Able to Stand Trial in Emanuel AME Shooting was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
