Roof hearing set for June 8 in Charleston

A hearing in federal court for Dylann Roof has been set for June 8 in Charleston before U.S. Judge Richard Gergel.

Since being indicted last summer on federal hate crime charges resulting in death, Gergel has called hearings almost each month to ask attorneys when the case might be ready for trial.

Gergel especially wants federal prosecutors to decide whether they will seek the death penalty against Roof because if they do seek it, Gergel needs time to draw up plans. Death penalty trials are much longer, more complex and more expensive than most other kinds of criminal trials.

So far, prosecutors on the case – who await a final decision from top Justice Department officials – have been unable to tell Gergel if they will seek the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Roof attorney David Bruck has publicly told Gergel at several hearings that Roof, 21, is ready to plead guilty and accept a life sentence without parole if the government does not seek the death penalty.

Roof, a self-avowed white supremacist from Columbia, is charged with the racially motivated deaths of nine African-Americans last June at Charleston’s downtown Mother Emanuel AME Church.

Meanwhile, state prosecutors are set begin their own death penalty case against Roof in state court in Charleston in January.

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Roof hearing set for June 8 in Charleston."