Three jurors have been qualified so far to sit on the panel that will decide the fate of a man charged with fatally shooting nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church.
The slow process of juror qualification began Monday for the federal trial of Dylann Roof. Potential jurors are called in for one-on-one questioning until a pool of 70 is deemed qualified.
The questioning began moments after U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled Roof can represent himself on hate-crime, obstruction-of-religion and other charges in the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Gergel said he would reluctantly accept the 22-year-old's "unwise" decision, which also came against his lawyers' advice.
Sitting in the top defense attorney chair, Roof has had no objections so far to potential jurors. His defense team remains as standby counsel.
Beginning Monday, 516 potential jurors will report to the courthouse to be individually questioned by the judge. When 70 qualified jurors are picked, attorneys can use strikes to dismiss those they don't want.
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