On Friday, it appeared that the stalemate involved only one juror. However, the Post and Courier reports that a majority of the jury said it remained undecided on Monday morning.
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“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 to Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman on Monday afternoon. The jury foreman later told Newman that he thought the jurors could still reach a verdict and deliberations continued. South Carolina Republican Party chairman Matt Moore had perhaps the most forceful rebuke:Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg gave a neutral statement, expressing disappointment in the result without stating a preferred verdict.
The judge also refused a request from Roof’s lawyers that if the trial was not delayed, he should extensively question the 67 people in the jury pool before jurors are selected and warn the jury they can only judge Roof, not what happened in the other trial.
There was immediate outrage on Twitter.
The bystander then caught Slager handcuffing the fatally wounded Scott and apparently moving the Taser that had fallen from his belt close to the stricken Scott’s hand – allegedly to corroborate Slager’s claim that Scott had grabbed the Taser and attempted to use it on the police officer.
Video of Judy Scott’s comments has gone viral on the internet.
Scott was pulled over in North Charleston for having a broken taillight on his 1990 Mercedes and then fled the vehicle, running into a vacant lot. They work for us, but they are still killing people of color and getting away with it. Slager was a public servant who failed in his duties on the day he killed Scott.
While Slager is white and Scott was black, the video, not the races of the men, dominated the trial. Slager is white and Scott was black.
Judy Scott: “I believe God”.
A hung jury was not enough to convict Slager despite damning video evidence that clearly shows a distance of eighteen feet between Scott and Slager as the shots were fired.
Warning: This video contains graphic images and some viewers may find it disturbing.
In theory, state prosecutors could try to convict Slager again.
On April 4, 2015, Slager pulled Scott over in a routine traffic stop.
Michael Slager is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison for his role in the 2015 killing of Scott.
“Going back 18 months later and looking at everything, things could have been different” he said.
Scott’s family also called for peaceful protests.
“It’s notoriously very hard to get criminal convictions in these cases”, says Kami Chavis Simmons, director of the criminal justice program at Wake Forest University School of Law. He added that “this is not about a brake light”.
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Slager faces federal charges that include violating Scott’s civil rights and obstructing justice, and the Charleston County solicitor Scarlett Wilson said in a press release Monday that she will retry Slager in a criminal court.
