Prosecutor Who Sought the Death Penalty for Dylann Roof Now Reconsiders Strategy

After the jury agreed with the prosecution and served Dylann Roof with the capital punishment, Soucth Carolina prosecutor is thinking whether to pursue a state death penalty trial against the convicted killer.

While Charleston Prosecutor, Scarlett Wilson declared she was going to pursue the death penalty for Dylann Roof more than a year ago, now she is not so sure how to go about the trial once the federal jury found him guilty and gave him the death penalty. Dylann Roof stands accused of murdering nine African-American parishioners and injuring several others back in the summer of 2015 in a racially motivated attack. However, now that he was found guilty and served, Scarlett Wilson is rethinking her strategy.

In the past, Dylann Roof’s court-appointed legal team composed of Bill McGuire and Ashley Pennington, consulted with J.C. Nicholson, presiding state Judge, and told him the defendant is willing to plead guilty to all counts of murder in exchange for life in prison without parole. At this point, Wilson refused to accept the offer. Nevertheless, the offer still stands.

In the meantime, Andy Savage, Charleston lawyer representing a number of Dylann Roof’s victims’ families told reporters his clients are in favor of the agreement, as long as the convicted killer could never be allowed out of prison on parole, or on any other grounds.

Andy Savage said that should Roof be served with life without parole in state courts, the defendant agrees to waive any appellate rights. However, he could still challenge the competence of his court-appointed legal team. Nevertheless, Savage said this challenge would be unfounded. Furthermore, he added the defendant asks to be incarcerated in a federal prison for the rest of his life, in exchange for his plea, which he, along with the rest of Roof’s legal team endorse.

During his federal trial, the defendant already said he did not trust the court-appointed legal team to represent him. However, he did not file a formal complaint. Ultimately, even though Roof admitted to the crimes, he filed an appeal on Friday that could lead to the overturning of his death sentence, along with several other of his federal convictions.

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Alan O’Leary

Alan is a happily-married, New York-based writer with over 5 years of experience in journalism. He mainly focuses on subjects such as international politics, arts culture, social media and national news.