In this Thursday, June 18, 2015, file photo, Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Roof is escorted from the Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby, N.C. The first jurors report to the federal courthouse in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 for jury screening in the federal death penalty case charging Roof with hate crimes and other charges. He is charged in the June, 17, 2015 slayings of nine people during a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dylann Roof is competent to stand trial starting next week in the killing of nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church last year, a federal judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel’s ruling clears the way for jury selection to restart Monday.
The judge delayed the process to begin narrowing the final jury pool on Nov. 7 when Roof’s lawyers suggested he either didn’t understand the charges against him or couldn’t properly help them with his defense.
Roof, 22, is charged in federal court with hate crime, obstruction of religion and other counts for the June 2015 attack at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
The decision came three days after Gergel wrapped up a hastily called two-day hearing that was held behind closed doors.