RICHMOND, Va. -- His attorneys argue the “delusional belief” of the man on federal death row for the racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation should have meant he couldn't represent himself at trial.
Attorneys for Dylann Roof told an appeals court in Richmond on Tuesday that Roof's theory that he’d be saved by white nationalists — but only if he kept mental health evidence out of his defense — should have shown his trial judge he wasn’t competent.
Roof is on federal death row for the 2015 slayings at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston.
The federal government says he was properly found competent and should stay on death row.
