Lengthy jury selection in Charleston church shootings to begin

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The laborious process of jury selection is getting under way in the federal death penalty trial of Dylann Roof, the white man charged in the deaths of nine black parishioners gunned down during a Bible study at a Charleston church.

Prosecutors allege he talked of starting a race war, posed with the Confederate battle flag before the killings, and used the Internet to scope out Emanuel and other historically black churches.

Miller Shealy, an attorney who teaches criminal law at Charleston School of Law, said the challenge for the defense is finding a jury that will keep Roof out of the death chamber.

Reasons for being excused include being older than 70, having served on a federal jury in the past two years, having no one else to care for young children, serving as a volunteer with a public safety agency, or having a business that would fold if the juror served.