Courts, Prosecution, and the Defense

Assignment # 2: Courts, Prosecution, and the Defense

CRJ 100

Strayer university

Case Report

Michael T. Slager Case

Who was involved in the case?

Defendant – Michael T. Slager, 33-years-old (at time of the indecent)

Victim-Walter L. Scott was 50-years-old, prior record a charge of assault and battery in 1987 and had a current warrant father of four owed more than $18,000 in child support and court fees. A toxicology report showed that Walter L. Scott had cocaine and alcohol in his system but a minimal amount not enough to impair his behavior at the time of his death.

Witnesses- Feidin Santana 25-years-old (at time of the indecent) barber who recorded the video on his phone.

Court Personnel – Judge: David C. Norton

Attorney General: Jeff Sessions

Prosecutor: Scarlett A. Wilson

Slager Attorney: Andrew J. Savage

Scott Family Attorney: Chris L. Stewart

Testimony

Former North Charleston patrolman Michael Slager testified in his defense, “In my mind at that time was, people don’t run for a broken taillight. There’s always another reason,” he testified. “I don’t know why he ran. It doesn’t make sense” then described yelling stop and “Taser! Taser! Taser!” as he caught up with Scott that’s when he says Scotts grabbed the taser “He ripped it out of my hand,” Slager said, demonstrating the position he alleged he held.” “I knew I was in trouble,” Slager testified, adding that Scott “was extending his right arm, leaning forward and coming at me.” “I was scared,” and in “total fear that Mr. Scott didn’t stop” resisting arrest, Slager said. “At that point, I retrieved my firearm and pulled the trigger,” he said. “I fired until the threat was neutralized as I was trained to do.” “I didn’t know if I hit him or if he just tripped or fell,” Slager said, adding “you always handcuff a suspect — always.” “Many parts of this is fuzzy in my mind,” Slager testified at one point. When asked if he would do again what he did in April 2015 in, Slager responded: “that’s hard to answer.” “I made a split-second decision”. When asked would he chase Scott on foot knowing what he knows now “Absolutely not. I would have called for backup,” Slager said.

Background

On the morning of April 4, 2015, at approximately 9:30 a.m., officer Michael T. Slager stopped Walter L. Scott for a routine traffic stop due to a non-functioning third brake light on his 1991 Mercedes Benz in the parking lot of an Advance Auto Parts store at 1945 Remount Road, North Charleston, SC 29406. Scott had a passenger in the car, Pierre D. Fulton co-worker and friend. Slager speaks with Scott for a brief minute then returns to his patrol car, Scott exited his vehicle and made a break for it from the scene on foot as shown from Slager’s dashcam video.

Slager begin to peruse Scott on foot as well and in the process attempted to use his taser on Scott, causing them to have a physical altercation in the lot behind Mega Pawn at 5654 Rivers Ave, North Charleston, SC 29406 where Scott resisted arrest, Slager fired his taser hitting Scott and Scott fled. Slager then drew his handgun and shot eight times at Scott’s back, Scott was approximately 15 to 20 feet away and running.

Forensics show Scott was struck a total of five times, three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks, once in one of his ears. It was a bullet that entered Scott’s return and struck his lungs and heart that ultimately killed him. The Official through autopsy has yet to be released. A toxicology report showed levels of cocaine that was less than half the average amount for “typical impaired drivers” and Scott did not test positive for alcohol.

Slager radioed dispatched instantaneously after shooting Scott saying “Shots fired, and the subject is down. He grabbed my Taser.” Before the witness video surfaced, Slager claimed self-defense, saying he “felt threatened” because Scott grabbed his Taser.

One of the necessary bits of confirmation that went viral the witness video that was recorded on Feidin Santana cellphone, Santana did not share the video at first due to the fear of retribution but became angered when police report had a different account from what happened. “. Santana said he saw a struggle in which Slager deployed his Taser, Scott was “just trying to get away from the Taser,” That was before he started recording, he observed that Slager “had control of the situation” and in an interview on The Today Show, Santana said Scott “never grabbed the Taser of the police. He never got the Taser.”

Once Scott was on the ground shot, Slager approached him and repeatedly instructed him to place his hands behind him and handcuffed him leaving him face down on the ground, not trying to perform CPR on him even though reports say officers did, the video shows otherwise. Then Slager ran back towards where the initial altercation took place and picked something up off the ground and later dropped the object beside Scott’s body possibly the taser.

The case was heard in the Supreme Court because it was a federal charge for violating Walter Scott’s civil rights.

Verdict and Sentencing

Slager lawyer achieved a concurrence with prosecutors only seven days before a jury was to be decided for his preliminary in a government court. Terms of the “worldwide” supplication bargain, permitted state specialists to drop a different state kill allegation and two other government checks of misleading examiners. Additionally utilizing a gun in rough wrongdoing likewise will be rejected. A sentence has not yet been settled upon, the request kills the unusualness of a jury preliminary and will put fundamental issues influencing Slager’s discipline unbiasedly in the hands of the judge who will choose Slager’s destiny. The charge was the hardship of rights under the shade of law, can have a sentence from as meager as no jail time to as much as life in a correctional facility.

I trust this is only a repulsive circumstance it ruins two families lives since they will both have lost somebody perpetually one to death and another to the jail framework. I trust Slager ought to be considered in charge of his activities. It wasn’t his only choice to shoot Scott he could have quite recently given him a chance to run and called it in. I don’t trust they should influence him to do live in jail possibly 10 to 20 years would be much the same as Scott’s mom said the measure of the sentence would not convey Walter back so for what reason to fend off Slager from his family ensure he takes in his exercise and is restored.

Reference:

1.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-carolina-details-walter-scott-michael-slager/

2.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/us/michael-Slager-sentence-Walter-scott.html

3.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/walter-scott-shooting-michael-slager-testifies-he-felt-total-fear/