Michael Slager, a white former police officer charged with killing the unarmed black motorist Walter Scott in South Carolina, will be retried in court after the jury failed to reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial. The jury, consisting of 11 white people and one black person, could not reach a conclusion even after 22 hours of discussion, CNN reports. According to The New York Times, it seemed that the jurors were only a vote away from deeming Slager guilty before they wrote in a note to Judge Clifton B. Newman that, “despite the best efforts of all members, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.”
Throughout the trial, there were hints that the jurors were deadlocked and needed more explanation about legal terms related to the case. For example, in South Carolina, you have to have show that the defendant has “malice aforethought” in order to convict them of murder. That’s a confusing legal term, but it basically just means the person intended to kill the victim. The jury requested more information on this particular term.
Still, the inconclusiveness is surprising, because Slager’s killing of Scott was filmed on a witness’s cell phone. “Every human being, no matter what color you are, can see [what happened on the video], unless you already made up your mind,” the Scott family’s lawyer, L. Chris Stewart, told CNN.
The video of the men’s encounter in April 2015 shows Scott running away from a traffic stop because of a broken taillight. Slager began to shoot when Scott was about 17 feet away, according to the Times. The fact that a decision was not reached even after showing the video in court stirred up much anger for those involved. “The fact that out of 12 people you would find one person so prejudiced in favor of police is saddening, not shocking, because I know that kind of prejudice in favor of police is out there,” civil rights lawyer Howard Friedman told the New York Times.
Slager’s fate, which could include conviction for murder or voluntary manslaughter, will be decided in another trial in state court.