The images of Slager repeatedly shooting Scott in the back as he tried to run away inspired many others to record encounters with police since then, and both officer-involved shootings and slayings of police have only drawn more attention.
In the Slager trial, the defense struck nine potential jurors, including seven minorities. The prosecution challenged whether the defense was using only race as a basis for disqualifying them. The challenge was dropped after the defense provided detailed reasons for its strikes.
Some of those reasons were: not having a good understanding of English, expressing anti-gun sentiments, and in one case, a potential juror is a friend of the medical examiner, who is expected to testify.
Figures released by the clerk of court in Charleston County show that of the pool of 75 qualified jurors from which the jury was selected, 16 are black, or just over 20 percent. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show the Black population of the state and the county is about 28 percent.
Opening arguments are expected on Thursday. Judge Clifton Newman was to hear motions on Wednesday afternoon, including one asking that the dramatic cellphone video of the shooting be kept out of the trial.
Slager’s attorney Andy Savage, in a motion Tuesday called the video “prejudicial, inflammatory and factually deficient.” He said bystander Feidin Santana took it from 137 feet away and not from the officer’s perspective. The clip is also “obscured or blurry and thus confusing,” the motion said.
The video does not show all of a fight that took place between Slager and Scott, and if it is allowed, it should not be shown in slow motion because that implies that Slager had malicious intent toward Scott, the motion said.
Slager, 34, faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder. Scott was shot after being pulled over for a broken taillight.
About Post Author
