A development in the trial of mass killer, Dylann Roof, has hit a roadblock. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel has filed for an evaluation to determine if the 22-year-old is capable to stand trial.
Additionally, the Court has entered a delay period in selecting a jury. The process was scheduled to restart on Wednesday (Nov. 9), but the proceeding will pick up on Nov. 21. “The Court is mindful that this delay in jury selection may be disappointing to some, but it is the Court’s duty to conduct a fair trial and follow procedures which protect the legal rights of the defendant,” Gergel said.
On June 17, 2015, Roof entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., and fatally shot nine black people. After authorities launched a manhunt, Roof was located in Shelby, N.C., and has remained in custody since that period.
He faces a myriad of charges from murder to “possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.” A conversation surrounding the death penalty for Roof’s hate crime also surfaced within the Court’s initial proceedings. During an investigation, authorities discovered a website where Roof spewed his racist vitriol and allegiance to neo-Nazism.
The official trial will commence on Jan. 17, 2017.