The Supreme Court denied an appeal by a Charleston church shooter on Tuesday, leaving his death penalty sentence in place.
Dylann Roof, 28, opened fire on a congregation at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, killing nine black parishioners. His death penalty sentence was upheld by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond last year.
CONSERVATIVE JUSTICES REJECT HIGH COURT PETITION OVER ‘FETAL PERSONHOOD’ RIGHTS
The Supreme Court ruled against Roof on Tuesday in a brief and unsigned order stating that his petition was denied. In the appeal, Roof asked the court to look at his case for technical legal purposes, stating that legal questions have produced different answers in different courts.
One of the questions centered on whether a defendant or his legal counsel should ultimately decide whether to show a jury evidence of a defendant’s purported mental illness, which can often lead to a lighter sentence.
Roof previously fired his legal counsel after a judge said he could not block his counsel from presenting his mental illness as evidence for the defense. He elected to represent himself during the sentencing phase of the federal death penalty trial and did not call witnesses or provide evidence for his defense.
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He told the jury in January 2017 that he “felt like he had to do it,” prompting the prosecution to call him an “extraordinary racist.” He appealed to the Supreme Court in March of this year.
