Dylann Roof Wants a New Federal Trial – Argues Lack of Jurisdiction
ABC reports that Dylann Roof, who was convicted for murdering 9 people in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church in June 2015, has asked for a new federal trial. Roof was sentenced to death. Roof’s argument is that federal prosecutors lacked jurisdiction to bring their case against him.
Represented by attorneys, they claim that the federal government failed to prove that Roof’s use of the internet, the highways, and a gun manufactured out of state, were sufficient links to allow religious obstruction charges. A similar argument was made in July 2016 as a part of Roof’s plea bargain that if the government took the death penalty off the table, that he would plea guilty as charged. The court denied Roof’s motion.
A federal grand jury found that Roof violated subsections of federal law 18 U.S.C. 247 in that he intentionally obstructed, by force, the enjoyment of free exercise of religious beliefs. That section requires that the circumstances takes place in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.
Roof is currently in custody in the Charleston County jail awaiting trial in state court.
Posted on 02/17/2017, in Cases, civil rights, Emmanuel 9 and tagged appeal, Dylann Roof, Emanuel 9. Bookmark the permalink. 21 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
So he feels his beliefs are strong enough that he should do the crime but not strong enough to stick by when he’s caught and sentenced.He issued the death penalty 9 times in that church and should be brave enough to accept the one issued against him.
I hope for no slip-up’s in the Federal trial that allow him to slip through the law’s hands.
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David,
The one thing I wonder about is that with appeals, if it was not brought before the court at trial, then it can’t be argued on appeal. During the sentencing phase, Roof represented himself, and he said nothing about federal prosecutors lacking jurisdiction. If his attorney relies on the July 2016 motion, the Court of Appeals might dismiss it for being tolled. So, I don’t know how his appeal is going to play out.
For sure, he doesn’t want the consequences of being a mass-murderer.
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Mr. Militant Negro,
Thanks for the reblog, dear friend.
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Not gonna waste my time!
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Sadly, as the Trumpniks get louder by the day it is no surprise that this is happening. The devaluation of human life is accelerating and we have to find a way to stop the madness. They will use every excuse to find a way to legally absolve Roof of his crimes because it was committed against “others”. The only answer I can think of is to continue to resist this wave of Nazi propaganda and fight to remove the Nazi from the White House.
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It looks to me like he will do that either by himself, or he was meant to lead this wicked system down into oblivion! Don’t forget, men don’t exist at their own pleasure!
Toni.
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Dreamer, in order for people to value human life, they have to believe that others are human. The dehumanization of others because of religion, or race, or gender, culture, or anything else they want to use, is ingrained in their hearts.
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True, and while the loss of their humanity is a tragedy, the time for pity has passed. These lunatics want a war and they seemingly will stop at nothing until they get it.
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Dreamer,
You know how bullies like to intimidate others into doing their dirty work? Well, we have Trump who would like to have his followers do his dirty work and then we have his followers who want him to do their dirty work for them. The war they get will be Russia invading the U.S.
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Dear Xena, I am sure that he was warned over and over again by the judge and others, that he was being foolish to think that he could represent himself, But he chose not to listen. And so, he dug his own grave.
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Gronda,
He was warned. As I understand it, he did not want attorneys representing him at the penalty phase because he did not want his mental health evaluations being presented in court. He wanted to present himself as a mentally healthy individual planning the murders of Blacks in churches to normalize such thoughts and actions.
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Is the trial for Slager murdering Walter Scott back on the docket yet?
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Slager’s lawyers are busy trying to get the federal charges dismissed. The state’s retrial is scheduled for August, but the federal trial is scheduled for May 15th.
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/24/latest-state-prosecutor-stunned-by-trump-comment.html
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That motherfucker is CRAZY and deranged. They need to dip him in acid and put him out of his misery. HE IS DISGUSTING !!!!
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Wow! Thanks for the update Yahtzee. We are having storms here with severe storm watch, so having you keeping us informed is precious. Thanks.
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Yvw, Xena.
I posted it here on this past Dylan Roof article of yours in order to keep the history together.
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