But this is the federal trial, there is also state trial scheduled to begin in about six weeks...Prosecutors have said it would take six to seven days to make their case against Roof. Defense attorney David Bruck said Roof’s case would take little additional time.
Because he knows, deep down inside, that a "life sentence" isn't always a life sentence, and so long as he is alive he *MIGHT* someday be free.BoSoxGal wrote:I agree, and the spectacle of the trial is entirely due to the DP - he's offered to plead guilty if it was taken off the table - so he has a weird concept of martyrdom?
Not in a major trial with a LWOP sentence. Even without that, Manson still is in jail (and I venture to say will never get out), same for Sirhan or for any major murderer. I don't care what his sentence says, I doubt he will ever get out.Because he knows, deep down inside, that a "life sentence" isn't always a life sentence, and so long as he is alive he *MIGHT* someday be free.
I'm sure they could hold a lottery for the privilege of being able to push that button...I'll be happy to push the plunger for this piece of fecal matter.
You should check out the NYT article I linked to.Lord Jim wrote:What he did was among many other things incredibly cowardly, so it's not surprising that his cowardice continues...
But at least he has dropped the idea of defending himself, and putting the survivors and the families of the victims through that cruelty...(at least for the trial phase...he's still saying he's going to do it during the penalty phase, which strikes me as a pretty good way to assure that he gets the death penalty.)
Also it looks like it's going to be a fairly short trial:
But this is the federal trial, there is also state trial scheduled to begin in about six weeks...Prosecutors have said it would take six to seven days to make their case against Roof. Defense attorney David Bruck said Roof’s case would take little additional time.
I'm wondering if he gets the DP on both the state and federal charges, (a very strong possibility) would that have the effect of actually prolonging the appeals process and delay his date with justice?
From that headline, one could easily get the impression that all of the family members have come out against the DP, but the text of the article does not support that conclusion. Only two people directly involved are quoted, the mother of one of the victims, (whose quote is kind of cryptic and could be interpreted as opposing the death penalty in this case, though she doesn't say that outright) and an attorney for the survivors and some of the victims family members who never indicates that he is doing anything other than expressing his own personal opinion on the subject...U.S. Seeks Death for Charleston Shooting Suspect. Victims’ Families Prefer Mercy.
The NYT article that you linked to makes very clear that the person who made the decision to reject Roof's offer to plead guilty if the DP was taken off the table (at least for the current federal trial) was US Attorney Gen. Loretta Lynch. (In fact the article says that she overruled local South Carolina federal prosecutors in making that decision.)Fucking prosecutors are spineless, all about ego & reelection.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... illed.htmlDylann Roof Said He ‘Shed a Tear’ for Himself, But Not the ‘Innocent People I Killed’
CHARLESTON, South Carolina– Dylann Roof, who shot nine black worshipers to death during a Bible study, told a jury on Wednesday that he’s not crazy.
Acting as his own attorney, the convicted killer told a jury considering whether or not to sentence him to death that he is not mentally ill. Aside from having a knack for embarrassing himself more than anyone else in the world, Roof told a jury, “there’s nothing wrong with me psychologically.”
Speaking softly and dressed in a grey sweater, Roof explained why he decided to represent himself during the sentencing portion of his federal trial for the killing of nine people at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in downtown Charleston on June 17, 2015.
“It isn’t because I have an illness I don’t want you to know about,” said Roof, whose defense attorneys had previously tried to argue Roof was not mentally competent to stand trial. “It isn’t because I’m trying to keep a secret from you.”
“I’m not going to lie to you either by myself or through anyone else,” said Roof, who previously wrote in a journal that he considered psychology "a Jewish invention (that) does nothing but invent diseases and tell people they have problems when they dont.”
Roof, who had told his black shooting victims during the massacre that “y’all are raping our women and y’all are taking over our world,” offered no explanation Wednesday for why he killed the nine churchgoers, aged 26 to 87.
He also offered no apology.
Instead of being remorseful, Roof was chagrined that the results of two court-ordered psychiatric evaluations he underwent in recent weeks would eventually be made public. He asked that the jury forget some of the comments made by his former attorney, renowned death penalty expert David Bruck, regarding Roof’s mental health.
And then he abruptly sat down. [He would have been much better off if he had begun his "defense" by abruptly sitting down.]
Minutes earlier, the federal government alleged Roof was unrepentant for his crimes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams referenced a note found in Roof’s jail cell in Charleston in August 2015, six weeks after the shooting, a part of which read:
“I would like to make it crystal clear I do not regret what I did. I am not sorry I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed. I do feel sorry for the innocent white children forced to live in this sick country and I do feel sorry for the innocent white people that are killed daily at the hands of the lower races. I have shed a tear of self pity for myself. I feel pity that I had to do what I did in the first place. I feel pity that I had to give up my life because of a situation that should never have existed.”
Williams argued to the jury that this lack of remorse and Roof’s ongoing racial hatred justified the death penalty over life imprisonment.
“The murder of anyone person is horrific…this case is worse,” said Williams. “It is worse because it wasn’t just one person…he killed nine people…It is worse because of the reason he killed those people. He killed them because of the color of their skin, because he thought they were less than people.”
I get people, people who do what you and I would consider "a little odd"* trying to convince me they didn't do it due to being mentally ill all the time.Lord Jim wrote:
The odd phenomena of people who commit horrific crimes being obsessed with others not thinking they are crazy (rather than being first and foremost focused on their fate and the punishment they will receive) is not all that unusual...
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Unless Root does a "Timothy McVeigh" and abandoned any attempt to stay his execution he'll be haunting our courts and prison system for another ten years.dales wrote:Looks like he'll be taking a long dirt nap.
We all will, eventually. I just hope he still ain't occupying prison space, like Charlie Manson, 40-plus years after the sentence was handed down.dales wrote:Looks like he'll be taking a long dirt nap.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/d ... rdict.htmlMr. Roof’s guilt was never in question in the trial, and the jury deliberated for about three hours before assessing the death penalty.
There are such things as a slow-speed wood chipper?Big RR wrote:If it was a high speed wood chipper it might be quicker and less painful than some of our "enlightened" forms of execution.
