Histroric Moment! Cop Who Murdered Walter Scott Going to Jail

Every once in a while in America, bad cops who disgrace the uniform actually go down for their crimes.

Kinda gives a little hope that traitors like the Chumph will go down, despite being supported by Republicans who countenance child rape and treason.

Walter Scott

Cop who shot Walter Scott in the back as he fled sentenced to at least 19 years in jail

Former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager has been sentenced to at least 19 years in jail over the killing of Walter Scott, a black man whom Slager had shot in the back as he was trying to flee.

ABC News reports that U.S. District Judge David Norton ruled on Thursday that Slager must serve a prison sentence of between 19 to 24 years for both committing second-degree murder and obstructing justice.

Slager fatally shot Scott in 2015 while he was an officer at the North Charleston Police Department. Shortly after the shooting occurred, an eyewitness video emerged showing that Scott had turned around to flee from Slager during a confrontation the two men had — at which point, Slager took out his firearm and shot Scott in the back.

The video directly contradicted Slager’s assertion that he only shot Scott because he felt his life was in danger. After the video emerged, Slager was fired from his job at the North Charleston Police Department.

Despite this clear video evidence, however, a jury late last year was unable to reach a verdict on Slager’s guilt, and the judge in the case eventually declared a mistrial.

“The state retrial and federal trial were expected to take place this year, but instead, in May Slager pleaded guilty to violating Scott’s civil rights in federal court, ending the federal case against him and also resolving the state charges that were pending after the mistrial,” reports ABC News.

 

Walter Scott Murderer, ex-Cop Michael Slager to Plead Guilty in Federal Court

Those who are either old enough to remember the KKK murders in places like Mississippi, and the resultant trials where all-white juries of the time couldn’t find them guilty will draw a correlation between the Walter Scott Murder trial ending in a hung jury despite video evidence that he was murdered by former Officer Michael Slager.

In quite possibly the last Civil Rights prosecution until the racist Chumph and his minions are removed from office, one small victory.

Sources: Police officer arrested in Walter Scott shooting to plead guilty in federal civil rights case

The former North Charleston police officer who was filmed shooting Walter Scott to death is expected to plead guilty this afternoon in connection with a federal civil rights prosecution, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the case.

Such a plea agreement for Michael Slager, 35, would come on the eve of his trial stemming from the April 2015 killing.

It remains unclear to what charges Slager would plead. In federal court, sentencing also is seldom handed down on the same day as a plea. Instead, probation agents would prepare a pre-sentencing report in the coming weeks, and a judge would decide a penalty later.

The sources confirmed that Slager was scheduled to enter the plea during a 2:30 p.m. hearing at U.S. District Court in downtown Charleston, but they declined to publicly discuss the development until then. The former lawman also could change his mind before the proceeding.

A Scott family spokesman, Ryan Julison, said the loved ones would speak out after the hearing.

Slager could face as little as no prison time and as much as life behind bars on the most serious count against him: deprivation of rights under the color of law. He also is charged with lying to state investigators and using a firearm in a violent crime.

In state court, where a hung jury prompted a mistrial last year, Slager is still charged with murder. It’s unknown whether that case also would be resolved.

Jury selection for the May 15 federal trial had been scheduled for next week.

Today’s pretrial hearing had been set for this morning, but it was rescheduled for the afternoon, according to a Monday filing that did not give a reason for the time change. The hearing was expected to be lengthy, with attorneys offering expert testimony and arguing in front of Judge David Norton about whether certain witnesses should be allowed to testify in the trial.

Slager, who is white, has maintained that he shot Scott, 50, a black man, in self-defense after Scott took his Taser.

But the federal indictment alleged that Slager used excessive force when he opened fire.

The officer pulled over Scott’s car because of a broken brake light on April 4, 2015, and Scott ran. Slager said Scott grabbed the stun gun during a fight.

But the video, filmed by eyewitness Feidin Santana, showed Scott turning around and running as Slager pulled his .45-caliber pistol and started shooting. Five of the eight bullets hit Scott from behind.

Santana called it “abuse,” and his footage captured worldwide attention amid scrutiny of police uses of force against black people.

A jury made up of Charleston County residents last year considered Santana’s and Slager’s views in state court, where the panel could not agree on whether Slager had committed murder, manslaughter or no crime at all.

The jurors for the civil rights proceeding are scheduled to be chosen next week in Columbia from a pool of residents from across South Carolina.

The defense team, led by attorney Andy Savage, had argued that a jury that’s less exposed to intense news coverage of the shooting would give Slager a fairer trial.

 

Cop Who Murdered Walter Scott Walks Free

As predicted. You pick 11 people at random in the South for a Jury – you are going to get at least 1 racist asshole.

 

 

Walter Scott Murderer to go Free on Mistrial

One juror in the Walter Scott murder trial “can’t in good conscience vote to convict”. Knowing the Jury is made up of 11 whites and one black person raises questions in itself.

Sounds like they got a Klansman or a Trumpazoid (but I repeat myself) on the jury.

Seems to me there is one other option the judge can pursue, which is to impeach the juror in question. In the fact that the juror perjured him/her self when asked the standard question of all jurors – “Are you willing to vote to convict if the preponderance of the evidence indicates guilt?”

That one juror will probably make the case go to mistrial, allowing the murderer to pleas down to basically a traffic ticket.

Murder most foul protected by a Jim Crow Juror.

Mistrial Appears Likely in Murder Trial of South Carolina Cop Who Killed a Fleeing, Unarmed Suspect

Lone juror cannot “in good conscience” vote to convict officer Michael Slager.

It appears likely that Judge Clifton Newman will be compelled to declare a mistrial in the racially charged South Carolina murder trial of former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager, who fatally shot an unarmed man who had fled from a April 2015 traffic stop. Late Friday afternoon, a lone juror sent a letter to the judge saying that he or she could not, in good conscience, vote to convict Slager of murder or manslaughter. The judge sent word asking the jurors to clarify whether that meant they were hopelessly deadlocked. The jurors responded that they were, but the prosecutor requested that the jurors receive further instruction, if need be, and the jurors expressed a willingness to deliberate further. In the meantime, the judge has sent jurors home for the weekend.

A viral bystander video showed Slager, who is white, shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott, who is black, multiple times from behind. Posted online soon after the incident, the video thrust the Charleston area into the national debate on race and the use of deadly force by police.

What the video didn’t show is the preceding tussle during which, Slager testified, Scott had defied his orders and tried to grab the Taser he was deploying. After Scott broke free and ran away, Slager took aim and fired. Slager said he was in a state of “total fear” and believed Scott remained a threat to him, even though he was running away.

Earlier on Friday, the jurors told Newman they were deadlocked in their attempt to reach a verdict, and the judge—who had given them the option of a lesser verdict of manslaughter—sent them back to try again. Over two days of deliberations, the jury twice asked the judge for assistance. They asked for transcripts of Slager’s courtroom testimony and that of the officer who interviewed Slager after the shooting. They also asked Newman to clarify the legal distinction between “fear” and “passion.” The judge responded that they would have to make that determination themselves.

Many observers have taken note of the racial imbalance of the jury: six white men, five white women, and one black man. No matter which way it goes, the verdict has to be unanimous. A jury foreman’s note that accompanied the letter from the holdout juror noted there was only one juror who “had issues” with convicting the officer.

A hung jury would probably be good news for Slager and his defense team. The prosecutor, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, would have to decide whether to pursue a new trial and on what charge. She announced in court that she would first want to interview jurors to gather insights before making further decisions on resolving the case. It’s also possible Slager could head off a second trial by pleading to a lesser charge in exchange for a short prison stint—a manslaughter sentence in South Carolina ranges from two to thirty years without parole. But involuntary manslaughter, for instance, carries a maximum sentence of five years.

 

Walter Scott Killer Now Facing Federal Charges

Thank goodness for cell phone videos. Otherwise Scott would have been found with a planted gun or knife, and a story of how the officer “feared for his life”.

Walter Scott

Michael Slager facing federal charges in Walter Scott killing

A white former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist who was running away has been indicted on federal charges including depriving the victim of his civil rights.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday also charges Michael Slager, 34, with obstruction of justice and unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime.

A bystander’s cellphone video captured images of Slager, then a North Charleston police officer, firing eight times as Walter Scott, 50, ran from a traffic stop in April 2015. The case inflamed a national debate about how blacks are treated by white police officers.

Slager was charged with murder in state court and fired from the force. He was held in solitary confinement until January, when he was released on half a million dollars bail and put under house arrest at an undisclosed location, allowed to leave only for work, church and medical or legal appointments.

Slager is to appear before a judge in Charleston later Wednesday for an initial appearance on the federal charges. Scott’s family said they planned to meet with reporters after the hearing.

Slager’s state trial is set to begin this fall, and he faces a possible life sentence without parole. Prosecutors have asked for the trial to be moved up to August or back to May 2017 to give Solicitor Scarlett Wilson time to prepare for another trial, that of Dylann Roof who’s charged with shooting nine people to death at a black church in Charleston last summer….More Here…

 

 

Walter Scott Murderer Granted Bail

Many states won’t grant bail in Capital crimes…Just another one of those insider deals for “special people”…

Beginning to look like they guy appointed to “oversee” the case is another one of those “special DA’s” whose job is to let the bad cop off.

Michael Slager, S.C. Cop Who Killed Unarmed Motorist Walter Scott, Granted $500,000 Bond

Michael Slager, the North Charleston, South Carolina, cop who killed Walter Scott as he was running away — which was all dramatically captured on chilling cell-phone video — was granted bond Monday after a judge expressed concerns that it was taking too long to bring him to trial.

A grand jury indicted Slager, 34, on a charge of murder after the video surfaced of him shooting Scott, 50, eight times after Scott had turned his back and fled after a daytime traffic stop on April 4.

Scott was black and Slager is white, and the shooting renewed tension in the coastal town over alleged excessive police use of force and systemic racism.

Slager was denied bond in September, but state Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, whom the state Supreme Court appointed to oversee the sensitive case, said Monday that he could go free on house arrest on a $500,000 surety bond.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office Monday evening had indicated that Slager was freed after posting bond, but it later said he was still in custody as of 6 p.m. ET.

Slager’s trial isn’t scheduled until Oct. 31 — more than a year and a half after Scott’s death — because prosecutors said they had to give precedence to the trial of Dylann Roof in the June shooting deaths of nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is scheduled for July.

Slager’s lawyers argued that keeping him in jail that long without trial was tantamount to punishing him for a crime he hadn’t been convicted of yet.

Under a typical surety bond, Slager would have to put up 10 percent of the order — in this case, $50,000 of personal funds — to engage a third party to guarantee he will show up for court appearances. Newman said Slager would be able to leave his home only for court hearings and to visit his attorneys, doctors or church.