On Friday afternoon, a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of ex-cop Michael Slager for the shooting of Walter Scott. The incident took place in April 2015 when Slager, who is white, pulled over the unarmed Scott, a black man, for a broken taillight in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Slager has maintained that he was acting in justifiable self defense when he shot Scott. Cell phone footage, which showed Slager chasing Scott and shooting him in the back, was captured by a bystander and sparked outrage. Despite the existence of this footage, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The 12-member jury — 11 whites and one African American — deliberated for 14 hours before the foreman sent a note to Judge Clifton Newman: “It is clear that jurors will not be able to come to consensus.” Newman promptly issued an Allen charge, which requires jurors to reconvene in an attempt to reach a verdict: “It isn’t always easy for two people to agree so when 12 people must agree it must be more difficult.” The judge has also allowed the jury to consider a manslaughter charge while warning that a mistrial would mean that the entire process would begin anew with a different jury.
The chances for the jury coming to a unanimous verdict do look slim despite the judge’s instructions. Currently, 11 have voted to convict (for either murder or manslaughter) with one lone holdout. T.J. Holmes of ABC News tweeted that this juror has written a letter to the judge and insisted she will not vote to convict Slager.
This is EXTRAORDINARY. A juror has written a letter to the court saying he/she WILL NOT vote to convict Michael Slager. #SlagerTrial
— T.J. Holmes (@tjholmes) December 2, 2016
(Via The Guardian, ABC News & CNN)