Prosecutors in South Carolina plan to go to a local grand jury with the case of the former North Charleston police officer who shot and killed a black man during a traffic stop.
The soonest the case could be presented to a grand jury is May 4, according to the prosecutor’s office. The former officer, Michael Slager, is being held on a charge of murder in connection with the shooting death of Walter L. Scott on Saturday. Slager is not expected to appear in court again for weeks.
In most jurisdictions across the nation, the decision to go to a grand jury is a required step given the seriousness of the charge. Prosecutors, however, have had a mixed record in using grand juries in cases involving police violence.
A grand jury in November chose not to charge a white officer, Darren Wilson, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed young black man, in Ferguson, Mo. Brown’s death led to weeks of nightly protests that occasionally tuned violent, and the grand jury decision set off a second round of violence.
Protests also followed after a Staten Island, N.Y., grand jury chose not to indict any of the officers involved in the death of Eric Garner, who was placed in a chokehold after resisting an attempt ot arrest him on suspicion of selling illegal cigarettes on Staten Island. The medical examiner determined that Garner had died in part because of the chokehold as well as his poor physical condition.
In the South Carolina case, a cellphone video shows Slager firing eight times at the fleeing Scott. Officials on Thursday released a dashboard cam video from the police cruiser showing a routine traffic stop by Slager for a broken taillight until Scott bolted from the car, a used Mercedes-Benz that Scott had purchased days earlier.
In the official video, Slager is seen walking toward the driver’s window, requesting Scott’s license and registration. Slager then returns to his cruiser. On the dash cam video, Slager never touches his gun during the stop nor makes any threats.
The video also shows Scott beginning to get out of the car, his right hand raised above his head. He then quickly gets back into the car and closes the door. After Slager goes back to his patrol car, minutes later, Scott jumps from his car and runs. Slager chases him.
The men are not seen for hundreds of yards until they are recorded by a passerby on his cellphone. That video shows Slager fire eight shots at the man’s back.
Police and Slager’s first lawyer initially said the officer fired in self-defense during a scuffle over his department-issued Taser.
Slager’s mother, Karen Sharpe, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that she couldn’t believe her son would have been involved in the incident. She said she hasn’t watched the cellphone video that helped bring about Slager’s arrest.
“I just have to let it be and hope God takes care of everybody involved — not only my family but the Scott family because I know they’re grieving just like I’m grieving, so I want them to know that,” she said.
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