Mistrial Declared In Case Of Officer Who Shot Walter Scott

SOUTH CAROLINA, Dec 05 2016 – A jury deadlocked Monday in the case of a former South Carolina police officer charged with murder after he was recorded on video last year firing a barrage of bullets at the back of Walter Scott, a fleeing driver, in one of the most high-profile shootings to rattle the nation in recent years.

“We as the jury regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all members, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision,” the jury wrote in a note that Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman read aloud in the courtroom.

Newman declared a mistrial shortly before 3:40 p.m., and thanked the jurors for their “hard work in trying to reach a unanimous verdict in this case.”

Prosecutors as well as attorneys for Michael Slager, the former officer, also thanked the jurors for their effort in the case. Several jurors wiped tears from their eyes as Newman made his announcement following more than 20 hours of deliberations.

It was the second time in a matter of weeks that a mistrial was declared in a case involving an officer charged with murder after being recorded shooting someone, following a similar outcome in Ohio last month. Prosecutors in South Carolina, echoing their counterparts in Ohio, vowed to seek another trial for Slager.

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 they could not pick a guilty verdict. Jurors then asked to take the weekend off and resume deliberations Monday morning.