South Carolina church shooter refuses to defend himself

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Mon Jan 9, 2017 | 1:47pm EST

South Carolina church shooter refuses to defend himself

By Harriet McLeod | CHARLESTON, S.C.

White supremacist Dylann Roof on Monday stood by his pledge not to testify or call any witnesses who might persuade jurors not to sentence him to death for killing nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015.

That leaves jurors deciding his fate to consider only the evidence offered by U.S. prosecutors, including four days of poignant testimony from more than 20 family and friends of the victims, who recounted the lives of their loved ones, ages 26 to 87, and the impact of their deaths.

Roof is representing himself. The jury last month found him guilty of 33 counts of federal hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms charges for the massacre during a Bible study meeting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Deliberations about whether Roof should be put to death or sent to prison for life were scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south-carolina-shooting-roof-idUSKBN14T1W3

[WhiteTara]

1. What he did is indefensible

so it's good that he keeps his mouth shut.

[haele]

2. Guess he decided he's going to die for his cause.

That's one of the reasons I'm against the death penalty. It does little, and ends punishment of some really nasty people way too soon.

The death penalty has never stopped the average criminal or psychopath from doing the horrific things they may do to other people, but it can be very attractive to mentally unstable people who want to be famous and feel they have nothing else to give or to lose other than being publically executed for some cause.

Let them rot forgotten in prison.

Haele