Retrial date set for March in police
shooting of black man in South Carolina
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[December 30, 2016]
By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A former
South Carolina policeman charged with murder for fatally shooting a
black man last year as he ran away from the officer will be retried
starting on March 1, according to a court notice released on
ThursdayMichael Slager's state murder trial ended in mistrial on Dec. 5
when a jury of 11 white people and one black man deadlocked. They were
considering murder or voluntary manslaughter verdicts and could not
reach a decision.The case brought national attention and renewed focus
on police shootings of unarmed black men when a bystander's cell phone
video emerged that recorded Slager, now 35, firing eight times at Walter
Scott, 50, as Scott ran from him after a foot chase following a traffic
stop for a broken tail light."Michael Slager can run, but in the end he
won't be able to hide from justice," Justin Bamberg, an attorney for the
Walter Scott family, said in an interview on Thursday. |
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Attorneys for
Slager could not immediately be reached for comment.Only about
one-third of at least 78 police officers across the United
States charged with murder or manslaughter from an on-duty
shooting since 2005 have been convicted, according to data
collected by Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal
justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. About half of
those convicted pleaded guilty.Slager testified during the trial
that he felt "total fear" before shooting Scott, hitting him
with five bullets.Prosecutors said Scott, who was unarmed, fled
because he was behind on child support payments and feared
arrest. They accused Slager of altering the crime scene by
moving the Taser closer to the handcuffed body so he could claim
Scott had taken it.
Slager also faces a federal trial in Scott's killing on charges
including civil rights violations that is set to begin on May 1
with jury selection in U.S. District Court in Charleston.
(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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