Michael Slager Granted Awaiting Trial for Murder of Walter Scott

He’ll stay at an undisclosed location in SC under house arrest until his trial, which is set to begin on Halloween.

Slager, who was sacked from his post as a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested in April and has been in custody since.

The judge had denied Slager bail in September, saying that releasing him “would constitute an unreasonable danger to the community”. Judge Clifton Newman set bond at $500,000 and set October 31 as his trial date.

Judge Newman said, “These are hard issues; these are excruciating issues for a court to have to consider”.

Slager has been imprisoned on murder charges since three days after the shooting on April 4.

The 34-year-old former officer originally pulled over Scott for a broken brake light and when Slager headed back to his police auto, Scott fled the scene.

The shooting of Scott sparked a national outcry and became another example, activists said, of the serious problem that exists between police departments and black citizens in the United States.

The slain Scott’s uncle, William Scott, echoed the sentiment that Slager would be a threat to the community.

Slager told investigators Scott did not comply with his demands and tried to grab his stun gun.

Slager was captured on a bystander’s cellphone video shooting at Scott eight times from behind as Scott ran from a traffic stop. Scott died at the scene.

“I don’t think Mr. Slager had any remorse after watching that video”, Scott’s father Walter Scott Sr. pleaded with the court before the decision was announced. “If you let him out, he’s gonna go home and look at his wife and children”.

However, prosecutor Scarlett Wilson is also prosecuting Dylann Roof, the white suspect in the killing of nine black parishioners at a Charleston church, in a July trial.

A judge granted Slager a $500,000 surety bond at a hearing Monday afternoon. “Everybody is just looking forward to and preparing for the trial”.

“It’s everybody’s fault but his”, she said.

Justin Bamberg, the attorney representing the family of the man Slager killed, Walter Scott, said his clients disagree with the ruling, but respect it. The judge says it would be unnecessary to keep Slager incarcerated for that long, especially since he is assumed innocent until proven guilty.