Despite an extra day of deliberation being granted in an effort to come up with a unanimous verdict, the judge ruling over the case of Walter Scott's murder by a South Carolina police officer in 2015, was forced to declare a mistrial on Monday, December 5, as the Jury remained deadlocked for what amounted to 22 hours over four days.
Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman sent the 12 member jury panel home at 6 p.m. on Friday, after sending them back to reconvene following three separate breakdowns in their efforts to come up with a conviction. One juror was reported to have held a guilty verdict back, going so far as to send Judge Newman a note which declared that he "cannot without a reasonable doubt convict the defendant," and "cannot and will not" change his mind. The jury had the option of reducing the outcome from murder to voluntary manslaughter, which would have possibly allowed for the juror holding out to join the consensus, but they pressed forward for a verdict on the murder charge.
"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," a jury memo, read aloud by Judge Newman, stated. The decision came at around 3:40 p.m.
A mistrial comes as a disappointment to many who had hoped that a recording of the incident, which clearly showed Scott running away from officer Michael Slager when he fired five shots into the victims back, would be evidence enough to land a conviction. Slager had pulled Scott over for a traffic violation on April 4, 2015. Footage from the police cruiser's dash cam showed a brief commotion, during which Slager says Scott attempted to wrestle his taser away. The device then dropped, as Scott made a run for it, attempting to flee from a possible arrest. Slager followed, but stopped short of chasing Scott down; selecting to raise his gun and shoot instead. As footage of the incident rolls on, Slager can be seen going back for the taser, and bringing it over to drop it by Scott's body.
"I was scared," Slager told the jury at one point during cross-examination. He reportedly described "total fear that Mr. Scott was coming toward me."
Source: washingtonpost.com
