Accused Charleston church gunman pleads not guilty but plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime c
Source: Washington Post
Accused Charleston church gunman pleads not guilty but plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges
By Jeremy Borden July 31 at 4:50 PM
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The man accused of gunning down nine African Americans last month inside a historic black church known as “Mother Emanuel” has told his lawyers that he currently plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges, Dylann Roof’s attorney David Bruck told a federal judge Friday.
However, Bruck said that because federal officials have not decided whether to seek a death sentence for some of those charges, he had told Roof not to enter that plea. As a result, Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant said a “not guilty” plea — effectively a temporary plea — would be entered for the alleged shooter.
“We are not able to advise Mr. Roof to enter a plea of guilty” until the government makes a decision on the death penalty, Bruck said.
Dylann Storm Roof, 21, appeared in a courtroom blocks from the site of the massacre as he was formally read the 33 federal charges stemming from the shooting. Roof, who had already been charged with nine counts of murder, was indicted last week on the federal hate crime charges.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/31/accused-charleston-church-gunman-plans-to-plead-guilty-to-hate-crime-charges/?
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