So a jury deadlocked Monday in the case of Michael Slager, the former South Carolina police officer charged with murdering Walter Scott.
The mistrial was the second declared in just weeks involving a police officer charged with murder.
The other one happened in Ohio.
Slager maintained during the monthlong trial that he was in fear of his life.
If you believe that, you probably can also see how one juror — just one of 12 — couldn’t pick a guilty verdict. Apparently not even for manslaughter.
It's the darnedest thing because Scott was clearly fleeing from the officer, not charging toward him in a threatening, menacing kind of way. He was at least 17 feet away when Slager began to shoot. Seventeen feet away.
Several jurors wiped tears from their eyes as Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman declared a mistrial.
Slager, who is white, was fired after graphic video emerged showing him shooting Scott, a black motorist, as the 50-year-old was running away after a traffic stop in April 2015.
When he declared the mistrial, Newman did not say whether the deadlock came down to a sole holdout. The jury of 11 white people and one black man in Charleston began deliberating last Wednesday and seemed on the verge of a deadlock by Friday, when a lone juror sent a note saying he couldn’t pick a guilty verdict. Jurors then asked to take the weekend off and resume deliberations Monday morning.
But the juror wouldn’t change his mind and we know from news reports he couldn’t, like the rest of the jurors, look the judge in the eye as he read the verdict.
I’m not a body language expert, but that ought to tell us something.
Prosecutors vowed to seek another trial for Slager, but they shouldn’t have to — not in this case.
The very existence of the video, and its inability to lead to a conviction, is troubling on so many levels, but chief among them is the fact that out of 12 people, one so favored the police that he could ignore the evidence and not even consider holding the officer accountable for his actions.
Beyond that, this case more than any other demonstrates the high hurdles associated with prosecuting police officers and, quite frankly, why so many believe black lives don’t matter.
How sad.
How sad officers like Slager tinge the reputation of police officers in general. Police officers no more deserve blanket condemnation than black men who are looked upon as worthless thugs and predators.
How sad Judy Scott will have to wait a little while longer for the justice she sought and hoped for her son.
Watching her speak after the verdict on the courthouse steps, I wondered how she managed to keep her composure and declare “it’s not over until God says it’s over.”
I know there’s a lot of truth in her statement because I know that God is in control.
But I keep wondering when will he act and what will his justice look like?
About the Author
