Federal Judge Delays Trial in Charleston Church Massacre

A federal judge has for the third time delayed a trial for the man accused of shooting and killing nine people at a South Carolina church.

Dylann Roof faces dozens of federal charges for the murder of church members at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church. He will now be tried in July.

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel had already bumped the trial from October to January. He agreed to postpone it again after Roof's attorney, David Bruck, said the defense is still reviewing evidence that the government has provided in its case against Roof.

Bruck said that the defense received "many thousands of pages" of evidence last week and it needs to sort though it.

Roof's attorneys have said he would like to plead guilty but need to know first if the federal government will seek the death penalty againist him.

Assistant U.S Attorney Jay Richardson said a Justice Department committee that makes recommendations to the attorney general on seeking the death penalty should begin reviewing Roof's case by year's end.

A decision usually then takes another three months, he said.

The state of South Carolina is set to try Roof on murder charges and is seeking the death penalty.