FILE - This June 18, 2015, file photo, provided by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office shows Dylann Roof. A judge ruled Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, that Roof is competent to stand trial for the killing of nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church. (Charleston County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (The Associated Press)
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The slow process of picking a jury for the federal death penalty trial of the white man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church continues with the defendant now in charge of his own defense.
A judge on Monday ruled that Dylann Roof could represent himself during the trial, which is expected to last into next year.
Roof faces dozens of charges including hate crimes and obstruction of religion in connection with the shooting. Police say Roof hurled racist insults at the six women and three men he's accused of killing and the three people he left alive in the June 2015 attack at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
So far, seven people have been qualified to possibly serve on the jury.
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