Support NeoGAF

[entremet]

From The AP.

The white man accused of killing nine black churchgoers during a Bible study will face the death penalty, according to court documents filed Thursday.

The documents said prosecutors would pursue the death penalty against Dylann Roof, 21, because more than two people were killed, and that others' lives were put at risk.

Prosecutors also said they intended to present evidence on Roof's mental state, adult and juvenile criminal record and other conduct, as well as his apparent lack of remorse for the killings.

Roof faces state charges including nine murder counts in the June 17 slayings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is expected in court again on those charges in October.

He also faces federal charges including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion, some of which are also eligible for the death penalty in that system. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said federal charges were necessary to adequately address a motive that prosecutors believe was unquestionably rooted in racial hate. South Carolina has no state hate crimes law.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ch...uspect-face-death-penalty-prosecutors-n421172

The last convict that faced the DP in SC was executed in 2011.

 

[TheAbsolution]

I hope he gets several consecutive life sentences.

 

[Bluekaveli]

Justice is served

 

[Black Republican]

Death Penalty is the easy way out for him imo

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I hope he gets several consecutive life sentences.

.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Death Penalty is the easy way out for him imo

Why?

He obviously isn't tormented by his decision.

 

[Slayven]

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

 

[Air]

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

Yup.

 

[inner-G]

I hope he gets several consecutive life sentences.

They should save some of the taxpayer money it would cost to imprison him and just off him instead.

 

[GraveHorizon]

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

Every family member of the victims should get a choice of whether or not to wet the sponge. Majority wins.

 

[RangerX]

They should save some of the taxpayer money it would cost to imprison him and just off him instead.

This has been explained umpteen times. Executing a person is more expensive to the taxpayer than life imprisonment because of the appeals process. Lawyers don't come cheap.

 

[Walpurgis]

South Carolina has no state hate crimes law.

How surprising.

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

I'm against the death penalty as a law mostly because there are cases where innocent people are killed. This clearly isn't one of them. Good riddance.

 

[Hackworth]

Fair enough.
Like, the death penalty isn't something I support generally but he killed nine people for a very stupid reason and it's not like there's a case of mistaken identity in this case so whatever.

 

[Omegasquash]

I hope he gets several consecutive life sentences.

Well put.

I'm against the death penalty as a law mostly because there are cases where innocent people are killed. This clearly isn't one of them. Good riddance.

Likewise, I am against the death penalty. I will not advocate for it, and I advocate against it where I can, however I will not advocate for mass murderers. I don't want to save his life, and personally I don't care whether he, himself, lives.

 

[entremet]

This has been explained umpteen times. Executing a person is more expensive to the taxpayer than life imprisonment because of the appeals process. Lawyers don't come cheap.

That's if he appeals. Gonna be hard finding a willing lawyer to represent him due to the baggage.

This isn't a circumstantial evidence case involving one victim--it's a mass shooting with 9 victims and he's been positively IDed and confessed.

 

[FairyD]

He's a piece of shit. But I can't support capital punishment.

 

[see5harp]

I wonder what Jesus would do.

 

[TheAbsolution]

That's if he appeals. Gonna be hard finding a willing lawyer to represent him due to the baggage.

This isn't a circumstantial evidence case involving one victim--it's a mass shooting with 9 victims and he's been positively IDed and confessed.

Usually death penalty cases get automatic appeals IIRC.

 

[Brakke]

That's if he appeals. Gonna be hard finding a willing lawyer to represent him due to the baggage.

This isn't a circumstantial evidence case involving one victim--it's a mass shooting with 9 victims and he's been positively IDed and confessed.

You'll manage to find a good lawyer for any high profile death penalty case no problem.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

He's a piece of shit. But I can't support capital punishment.

You can't support the killing of someone that wanted to incite a race war and eliminate blacks. Who sat in church for an hour and yet still decided to mass murder everyone even though he would later say it was hard because they were nice.

There is no redeeming that.

That's pure evil.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

Let him fight Rhonda Rousey first!

 

[JordanN]

Lock him in a jail cell, and force him to watch Martin Luthor King's "I have a dream" speech all day, for the rest of his life.

Sent from PS Vita.

 

[TheAbsolution]

You can't support the killing of someone that wanted to incite a race war and eliminate blacks. Who sat in church for an hour and yet still decided to mass murder everyone even though he would later say it was hard because they were nice.

There is no redeeming that.

That's pure evil.

I'm sorry but I agree with him. I don't agree with capital punishment for any reason whatsoever.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

South Carolina has no state hate crimes law.

Of course it doesn't.

curious if West Virginia doesn't as well.

 

[T-Dot]

Good riddance.

 

[cameron]

Feds are also seeking the death penalty.

Department of Justice Press Release: "Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Statement on the Case of Dylann Roof"

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch today released the following statement regarding the United States v. Dylann Roof:

“Following the department’s rigorous review process to thoroughly consider all relevant factual and legal issues, I have determined that the Justice Department will seek the death penalty. The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision.”

The Post and Courier: "Federal authorities to seek death penalty against Dylann Roof"

The move is a relatively rare one for the federal government since it reinstated capital punishment nearly three decades ago. Of thousands of eligible cases since then, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has authorized prosecutors to seek execution in about 500.

With the decision by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Roof will face the ultimate penalty in two different courtrooms if he’s convicted. In state court, he is set to be tried in January, but his federal trial has not been scheduled.

Surviving victims of the June 17 attack, considered one of the most heinous hate crimes in recent memory, and family members of those who died had differing stances on whether Roof should face execution.

They learned of Lynch’s much-awaited decision during a conference call with federal authorities Tuesday afternoon, less than a month before the one-year anniversary of the shooting. The federal trial has been delayed four times as Lynch considered the case.

Steve Schmutz, a Charleston attorney who represents family members of three of the slain victims, said the development was not surprising.

“The families will support this decision,” he said. “Really, I think the families have mixed emotions about the death penalty. But if it’s ever going to be given, this case certainly calls for it.”

The shooting left the church’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, and eight others dead. Three adult women and two children in the church at the time survived without physical wounds.

In the federal notice Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson wrote that Roof’s actions met the legal threshold for the death penalty because he intended to kill the people he shot: Pinckney, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders Daniel Simmons Sr. and Myra Thompson.

The prosecutor also listed nine aggravating factors, including: multiple deaths, extensive premeditation, the targeting of people more than 70 years old, an intent to incite violence by others, the deaths’ impact on the victims’ loved ones, endangering the safety of people besides those who were slain, racial motivation and a lack of remorse.

Roof also targeted Emanuel AME, the filing stated, “in order to magnify the societal impact” of the crimes.

 

[siddhu33]

Does racism count as a mental illness? Wonder what the defense lawyer will come up with.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Why?

He obviously isn't tormented by his decision.

What's to say tomorrow he won't?

Edit: Heh. Just saw date.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Hope he gets the death penalty. He's clearly guilty. This should not take long but it will.

Does racism count as a mental illness? Wonder what the defense lawyer will come up with.

No. It's a bullshit cop out.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

100% against the Death Penalty, no half-measures, if and or buts on the matter, and that's no gonna change. It's such a strange mentality, to have someone in your custody for life, no longer a threat to anyone, and yet still want to murder them.

 

[RPGCrazied]

He should rot in jail for the rest of his life. Death penalty is the easy way out for these kind of sicko's. In my opinion.

 

[ApharmdX]

I don't want him to die. That solves nothing. It certainly doesn't bring back his victims. He's a young man. He should live with what he did for the next 50 or 60 years.

 

[minor effort]

100% against the Death Penalty, no half-measures, if and or buts on the matter, and that's no gonna change. It's such a strange mentality, to have someone in your custody for life, no longer a threat to anyone, and yet still want to murder them.

Agreed. The death penalty is so flawed in application that it should be categorically removed as a sentencing option.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

100% against the Death Penalty, no half-measures, if and or buts on the matter, and that's no gonna change. It's such a strange mentality, to have someone in your custody for life, no longer a threat to anyone, and yet still want to murder them.

I agree. Though Dylan Roof deserves not even the slightest iota of anybody's sympathy I also cannot sit here and pretend a death sentence is going to be any form of justice. Capital punishment does more harm than good, so I will not cheer for its implementation, ever.

 

[Hellwarden]

I would rather he get put in prison for the rest of his life with no chance of parole.

I'm strictly opposed to the death penalty.

 

[Aurongel]

My feelings on the death penalty aside, giving him consecutive life sentences is preferable to the death sentence solely because it gets this cunt off of everyone's news feeds quicker.

 

[ThisGuy]

It's not popular but there are instances I'm okay with the death penalty. This is one of them.

 

[reckless]

It's an open and shut case, so I'd be fine with the death penalty in this case.

 

[doctorblurg]

Hope he just gets stuck in there for life instead, even if people feel otherwise. At least with a life sentence he gets to legitimately suffer for the next 60 or so years

 

[Ninja Scooter]

That'll teach him that killing is wrong.

 

[Fenderputty]

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

Unfortunately you can't pick and choose which hill if you're in the against camp.

 

[The Faceless Master]

would prefer life without parole but no special privileges like solitary, etc... just a real and proper life sentence in gen-pop

 

[Cesare Borgia]

I don't support the death penalty in any circumstances. But I'm not going to die on this hill.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Unfortunately you can't pick and choose which hill if you're in the against camp.

pretty sure that was a pick and choose.

how can you say that someone can't do something when they already did it?

 

[BlackGoku03]

As a SC resident (not from here) I'm not complaining. Neither is anyone else (in the area) that I've seen.

This is one of the few cases I'm all for it, especially since there is no chance a mistake was made.

And if you're worried this is a waste of taxpayers money, SC has been wasting taxpayer's money for years and still continues to do so.

 

[minor effort]

I don't support the death penalty in any circumstances. But I'm not going to die on this hill.

Opposing capital punishment is in no way a defense of the suspect, so I don't know why the implication is there. Opposing capital punishment for even the most heinous of crimes is simply acknowledgement that the practice is too flawed to continue using for risk of all the more ambiguous cases receiving death sentences.

The only truly effective way to prevent misuse of capital punishment is to outlaw its usage nationwide. Leaving exceptions for the super-duper guilty or the really horrific crimes still leaves that door open.

 

[SillyEskimo]

If he doesn't die for this, we might as well get rid of the Death Penalty altogether.

 

[linkandzelda]

100% against the Death Penalty, no half-measures, if and or buts on the matter, and that's no gonna change. It's such a strange mentality, to have someone in your custody for life, no longer a threat to anyone, and yet still want to murder them.

Completely agreed.

 

[Hot Coldman]

There is a valid debate over the death penalty. But Dylan Roof is not a hill I would die on.

Let him ride the lightening

I dunno, if you let him rot in a hole for the rest of his life there's a chance, however small, that his soul might crack enough for the guilt to eventually reach him

seems too good an opportunity to pass up

 

[Frozenprince]

While I don't believe he should die.

I'm not gonna spare him a thought when they flip the switch.