Deliberations enter third day in Slager trial

After returning to the jury room, the foreperson sent down another note informing the judge they had made a decision to go home for the weekend and wished to come back on Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.to continue deliberations. They once again returned to the deliberation room as a defense lawyer moved for a mistrial and the judge ordered the court in recess to weigh the request. “Judge, I understand the position of the court, but I can not with good conscience consider a guilty verdict”, the juror wrote. Over two days of deliberations, the jury twice asked the judge for assistance.

The case of the former SC police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black motorist is now before the jury.

If convicted, Slager is facing the possibility of life in prison.

But when the jury reentered the courtroom, the foreperson did not confirm that the jury would be unable to reach a unanimous verdict if they were given more time, saying instead that they felt more information about the law would have been helpful. Newman instructed them to return to deliberations.

Scott, who was unarmed, was shot in the back five times as he was running away from Slager.

Slager, 35, testified he feared for his life when he shot 50-year-old Scott as Scott fled a traffic stop on foot.

A police report also claimed that Slager attempted to resuscitate Scott with CPR; Santana’s video subsequently proved that was a lie.

After more time, the judge stopped them again and asked whether they were deadlocked still or needed further time. The video also shows Slager dropping what seems to be a taser next to Scott’s unmoving body – a weapon he says Scott took from him during a scuffle – before handcuffing the victim rather than administering first aid.

The prosecution asked the judge to include an option for Slager to be charged with voluntary manslaughter, and although the defense objected, the judge agreed.

“And he takes the Taser out of my hand with such force, it comes out of my hand, and then I see him with the Taser in his hand and I see him spin it around”, Slager said.

It’s for the jurors to decide, he said. The courtroom doesn’t typically learn of “the inner workings” of a jury’s thought process, he said, including a numerical count of where individual jurors stand before a verdict is reached.

“I knew I was in trouble”, Slager testified, adding that Scott “was extending his right arm, leaning forward and coming at me”. But Newman told the jury before they started discussions late Wednesday they could consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Earlier on Friday, Newman refused the jury’s request for definitions of the words “fear” and “passion”.

“It isn’t always easy for even two people to agree, so when 12 people must agree, it becomes even more hard”, Newman said.