Roof case: Meek moves for sentencing delay

A lawyer for Joseph “Joey” Meek, a friend of accused Charleston church killer Dylann Roof, has filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to delay Meek’s sentencing hearing.

The lawyer, Deborah Barbier of Columbia, also asked U.S. Judge Richard Gergel to keep under seal confidential records she also was filing, saying the records involve “sensitive medical and psychiatric information.”

Meek, 21, is charged with withholding information from authorities and lying to the FBI about his prior knowledge of Roof’s plans to kill black people at a historic downtown Charleston church a year ago. Roof, 22, of Columbia, an avowed white supremacist, wanted to start a race war, according to a website linked to him.

When Meek agreed to plead guilty during an April 29 hearing, he told Gergel that he was seeing a psychiatrist but did not say why.

Meek is expected to be a witness for the government in Roof’s November federal death-penalty trial.

A Columbia psychiatrist, Dr. Thomas Martin, is mentioned in Barbier’s motion as writing a letter that contained “personal, medical information,” but no details were given.

Roof is scheduled to go on trial in federal court on Nov. 7 for killing nine African Americans at the “Mother” Emanuel AME Church. Federal prosecutors seek the death penalty.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Roof case: Meek moves for sentencing delay."