On the eve of closing remarks in his death penalty trial, Dylann Roof asked a judge to bar prosecutors from using the words “evil,” “pit of hell” and “heart of hate.”
The request was part of a motion filed by the South Carolina mass shooter meant to “prevent unfair and unconstitutional comments by the government that may unfairly prejudice the jury,” Roof wrote.
Roof also asked in his motion that the government not be allowed to mention “particularly inflammatory terms relating to the views expressed in my writings,” including “Hitler,” “the Holocaust” or “lynchings.”
He filed the papers after confirming in court he would not call any witnesses or testify in his own defense.
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U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel did not immediately rule on the motion.
Following closing remarks Tuesday the jury will begin deliberating whether Roof, 22, should be put to death.
Last month, the same jury found Roof guilty on all 33 counts stemming from the mass shooting of nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Prosecutors called 25 witnesses over four days during the sentencing phase of the trial.
They also introduced excerpts from Roof’s journal, in which he said he had shed no tears for the nine victims of the June 2015 shooting.
The Rev. Anthony Thompson cried as he described a conversation with his wife, Myra, who was among the victims in the Bible study group. Thompson recalled their talks about future plans to move and pursue studies and careers in the church.
“She was my world, and she was gone,” he said on the stand.
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