After a judge ruled Monday that Dylann Roof was competent to represent himself, the same jury that found him guilty for killing nine black Church members if they will spare his life or condemn him to death.
While prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Roof said last week he plans on calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence.
Roof was found guilty last month on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion. A jury took less than three hours to return its verdict, and now have to decide Roof’s fate after the judge dismissed them for holiday break.
READ: Dylann Roof Convicted In Murdering Nine Black Church Members
Roof’s lawyers tried repeatedly both to stop him from being his own lawyer and to work mental health-related evidence into the first phase of his incompetence. However, the lawyers say they feared Roof fired them because he feared the attorneys would present evidence that would “embarrass him when trying to save his life.”
In his journal, which was read in court during his trial, Roof said his doesn’t believe in psychology, which he called “a Jewish invention” that “does nothing but invent diseases and tell people they have problems when they don’t.”
