CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – A jury has begun a third day of deliberations in the murder trial of a South Carolina police officer who was fired from his job after he shot and killed a black man. The killing sparked national outrage after video taken by a witness was circulated online.
Michael Slager, who is white, is charged in the death of Walter Scott, a 50-year-old African-American. Scott was shot five times in the back as he fled from Slager after being pulled over in North Charleston on April 4, 2015 for having a broken taillight on his vehicle.
By early Friday, the 12-member jury – comprised of 11 white members and one African-American – had deliberated more than 10 hours over three days.
The jury is being allowed to consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, which is shooting someone in the heat of passion. A murder conviction, which requires the jury to agree that Slager had malice toward Scott, carries a sentence of 30 years to life.
Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of from two to 30 years.