A judge on Thursday indefinitely delayed the state trial against Dylann Roof, who was convicted in federal court for his June 2015 attack at a black church in Charleston, S.C., that killed nine worshippers.
Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson signed paperwork delaying South Carolina’s proceedings against Roof “until further order of this court,” noting the ongoing federal trial against him.
Roof, 22, was convicted of all 33 federal counts against him in federal court, and he is now representing himself in the penalty phase of that case. Jurors are currently hearing testimony from victims’ friends and family as they decide whether he will face life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
In the state case, Roof faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a firearms charge. Though South Carolina authorities were the first to charge him, a judge set an earlier date for the federal hate crimes trial in U.S. District Court.
“We have been closely monitoring and in constant consultation with the federal prosecutors who have done an outstanding job,” Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who is leading the state’s prosecution of Roof, said Thursday. “Our plans have not changed, but we will continue to re-evaluate as the circumstances dictate.”
