South
Carolina judge extends order sealing church massacre documents
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[July 17, 2015]
By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A South
Carolina judge on Thursday extended for another week a temporary order
sealing court documents and silencing lawyers and others involved in the
case of the slayings of nine people at a historic black church in
Charleston last month.
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Ninth Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson cited concern about "any
graphic pictures of the victims dead on the floor of the church or
911 calls that might have recorded the sounds of victims."
Suspected gunman Dylann Roof sat quietly in a gray striped prison
suit and shackles next to a public defender during a 30-minute
hearing in which the judge set July 11, 2016, for the start of the
trial.
The 21-year-old white man was arrested a day after the June 17
killings and charged with nine counts of murder in what authorities
say was a racially motivated massacre.
A defense attorney told the hearing Roof's competency to stand trial
is not an issue and that he has a high school certificate.
His attorneys waived bond, but the judge said he was denying it
anyway. Prosecutors have not said if they will seek the death
penalty and Roof has yet to enter a plea.
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The South Carolina Press Association had challenged Nicholson's
decision last week to issue a gag order on potential trial
participants as well as banning the release of documents including
911 police dispatch calls, coroner's reports and witness statements.
Nicholson extended the ban until a hearing on July 22 to allow other
interested parties, including relatives of the victims, to be heard.
Nicholson issued the order last Friday citing "substantial pre-trial
publicity" that could jeopardize Roof's right to a fair trial.
On Thursday, however, he said the police photos and 911 calls were
his main concern. "Frankly at this stage, the court does not think
pre-trial publicity is a problem," he said.
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The press association argued the public had a right to know about
the case and that the judge's order was too broad.
Thursday was Roof's first appearance in court since a magistrate's
bond hearing on June 19, in which he appeared by video standing in a
nearby holding room and victims' family members expressed grief and
their forgiveness of him.
A grand jury indicted Roof on nine murder charges in the killings of
Bible-study members at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal church including its pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney,
who was also a state senator.
Roof was also indicted on three counts of attempted murder and a
firearm charge. He also faces possible federal hate crime charges.
After the murders a website linked to Roof surfaced containing a
racist manifesto and showing him in photos posing with Confederate
flags, a banner from the American Civil War widely considered a
symbol of slavery.
(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Writing by David Adams; Editing by
Mohammad Zargham and James Dalgleish)
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