A federal appeals court upheld the death sentence of Dylan Roof, a white man convicted of the mass shooting of black members of Emanuel's African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Roof, 27, tried to appeal his conviction to the 4th US Court of Appeals, which concluded that even the most careful analysis of laws and precedents cannot convey the horror of what Roof did.
“His crimes deserve the harshest punishment that a just society can impose.”
The court recalled the crimes of a man who entered to church and joined a Bible study group.
According to the court, “the parishioners greeted Rufus by handing him the Bible,” and for the next 45 minutes he prayed with those present — however, then he took out a pistol and opened fire.
“After firing about 74 shots, Rufus approached one of the parishioners who prayed loudly. He told her to “shut up,” and then asked if he had shot at her yet. ”
According to the court record, Rufus told her:“ I will not touch you so you can tell this story. ”
A man killed nine people: the Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Heard, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, the Reverend Depein Middleton Doctor, the Reverend Clement Pinckney, Taiwans Sanders, the Reverend Daniel Simmons Sr., and the Reverend Thompson.
Rufus, who was convicted of murder and other crimes, including nine counts of racially motivated crimes, was sentenced to death in early 2017.
On appeal, the shooter contested his legal capacity, declared errors at the stage of determining the punishment, and insisted that some of the statutes on indictment could be unconstitutional.
