Lawyers of Charleston church shooter argue death penalty is unconstitutional
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On Monday, lawyers for Dylann Roof filed a challenge to the federal death penalty. Roof is accused of killing nine people in a shooting spree at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June.
In the motion, the defense attorneys argued the federal death penalty itself, which the Justice Department is seeking against Roof, "constitutes a legally prohibited, arbitrary, cruel, and unusual punishment prohibited by both the Fifth and Eighth Amendments."
Roof's lawyers said they filed the motion because Roof's offer to plead guilty was rejected. That offer was withdrawn in the motion filed Monday. Roof, 22, is charged with 33 federal offenses, including hate crimes.