In Dylann Roof hearing, judge rules jury should be picked from Charleston area
The 12 jurors who decide Dylann Roof’s fate should be residents of the Charleston region, a federal judge said Monday.
Fearing the defense would later ask for the trial to be moved to a different courthouse, prosecutors in the death penalty case had asked U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to summon prospective jurors from across South Carolina instead of the nine-county local area.
But in settling the issue during a hearing in downtown Charleston, Gergel noted that the defense had no plans to seek such a change of venue.
“It would take an unusual ... situation” to use a statewide jury pool, the judge said.
Read more: http://www.postandcourier.com/20160718/160719596/in-dylann-roof-hearing-judge-rules-jury-should-be-picked-from-charleston-area