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Dylann Roof: Not guilty pleas entered for Charleston shooting suspect to all charges Dylann Roof: Not guilty pleas entered for Charleston shooting suspect to all charges
(35 minutes later)
The young man facing dozens of charges relating to the shooting dead of nine people at a Charleston church has appeared in court where a judge entered a plea of not guilty. A court has entered a plea of not guilty to all 33 federal charges for the young man accused over the shooting deaths of nine black members of an historic Charleston church.
Reports said Dylann Roof was arraigned on 33 federal charges relating to the June 17 attack at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dylann Roof appeared at a federal court in the South Carolina city on Friday where his lawyer, David Bruck, told a judge that the 21-year wanted to enter guilty pleas to all of the charges he faces.
The Associated Press said his lawyer told US Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant that Mr Roof wanted to enter a plea of guilty to all the counts. Wearing a striped grey prison jumpsuit and his hands in shackles, Mr Roof answered "yes" several times in response to the judges questions, but did not otherwise say anything else.
But because the government had not decided whether to seek the death penalty on some of the counts, attorneys could not advise him on the issue, the lawyer said. Ms Marchant then entered the not-guilty plea on all counts. Huh? I thought he was proud of what he 'allegedly' did? #Charleston Shooter pleads not guilty http://t.co/imoM5z1Gu7 pic.twitter.com/5UBNK7hNOn
  Mr Bruck said that because the government had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, the legal team was unable to advise its client. The judge, Bristow Marchant, then entered the not guilty plea on all counts on Mr Roof’s behalf. The plea can be altered at a later date.
More follows.... Mr Roof was formally arraigned on 33 federal charges, including nine counts of murder and 12 so-called hate crimes. The other charges included the use of a weapon to commit murder.
Mr Roof has previously been charged with a dozen counts of murder and attempted murder by state prosecutors. It is not clear whether the federal or local prosecutions will take precedence.
The Associated Press said that the judge also heard briefly from family members of victims of the June 17 attack. Several church representatives also spoke.
Mr Roof was arrested in the days after the attack on the traditionally black church, carried out as members were holding a bible study session in the basement.
In the subsequent days, a racist ‘manifesto’, apparently written by the young man and outlining an extremist world view, was discovered on the internet. Federal investigators believe Mr Roof wrote the document.
Mr Roof’s trials are not expected to begin until next summer.