Charleston church shooter says it's 'not fair' victims' families are sharing so many emotional stories

(Image credit: Charleston County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

published 5 January 2017

Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof thinks it's "not fair" that prosecutors get to spend so much time recounting the emotional stories shared by family members of the nine people murdered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. "If I don't present any mitigation evidence, the victim-impact evidence will take over the whole sentencing trial and guarantee that I get the death penalty," Roof wrote in a court filing unsealed Thursday, the second day of his sentencing trial.

Roof, who is representing himself, has decided not to present any evidence or witnesses, though in a written filing he requested prosecutors reassess the length of their testimony. The judge declined Roof's suggestion to impose limits, though the judge did admit he was "concerned both about the number of witnesses and the length of their testimony and the length collectively of their testimony."