Walter Scott was driving his passenger home for a cookout...shot dead by South Carolina cop

Associated Press and Dailymail.com ^ | 16 April 2015 | Associated Press and Dailymail.com Reporter

[familyop]

Walter Scott and his passenger were looking forward to having a cookout when he was pulled over and shot dead by a South Carolina police officer, it has emerged. Scott, 50, and Pierre Fulton, his friend of several years, had met for breakfast on April 4 before Scott drove him to a church...Scott was behind $18,000 in his child support payments and family members have said he may have run because he was worried about going to jail.

[conservativejoy]

I read that the object dropped near Scott was the Taser holster. Even if that is true, he shouldn’t have moved it.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

“Don’t we all. I doubt you have any, ANY hard evidence by which to be thumping you “self assuming authoritative”

Well, there is the video. Of Slager shooting at Scott 8 times as Scott ran away. And then moving evidence at a crime scene. So, yeah, there’s evidence.

” laws of engagement that requires the cop to stop the perp by any means at his disposal at that point”

No such “laws of engagement” exist.

[MeganC]

Sometimes the cops murder other cops. The NYPD seems to pull this off with an alarming regularity.

[Digital Handyman]

If this chain of events had gone down between the deceased and a private citizen (say, you or I), we’d be looking at a murder-2 charge every time. It is well established that a “coup de grace” after the threat is ended in a self-defense situation is a crime.

A fleeing unarmed man being no threat in any serious sense of the word, the only real question before us in this case is whether a police officer is allowed to use deadly force as a means of apprehending a fleeing suspect.

Basic firearm instruction tells us that this is not the case. “Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to destroy” is the rule, any responsible weapons training makes this clear before the trainee ever gets to touch a weapon.

The job of the law enforcement officer is to apprehend suspects, not to destroy them. The reason that is so is that we at least pretend to have a justice system where a man is innocent until proven guilty and is allowed to present a defense of his actions before punishment is carried out against him.

[MeganC]

Watch who you’re not-so-slyly calling a lesbian. It’s not funny.

[Mears]

“Sometimes the cops murder other cops. The NYPD seems to pull this off with an alarming regularity.”

—

Really?

Do have anymore info on this?

.

[MeganC]

Here’s a recent academic paper on the topic of blue-on-blue shootings and how the cops sometimes cover up killing their own by the willful destruction of evidence.

https://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/48921/MILLER-THESIS.pdf?sequence=1

There are also other stories from recent years where NYPD ran into a cop in an apartment hallway and fired over 80 shots at him, killing him. Another one had an undercover detective running after a suspect and uniformed cops opened fire on him without warning, killing him because he was black and running.

To the credit of the NYPD they are making efforts to reduce these kind of shootings, but the facts of these shooting betrays a general disregard for public safety and the rights of the people they suspect may have committed a crime.

I say it this way because in each case the cops used deadly force in the suspicion that the person they were murdering was a suspect civilian. The regret only came later when they discovered they had murdered another cop.

[Mears]

From your link——”Since 1981, 26 law enforcement officers have been mistaken as dangerous criminals and killed by other on-duty officers.”

—

That’s 26 times in 33 years,less than once a year——and you call that “alarming regularity”? You do realize that there are approximately 700,000 LEOs in the USA.

Looks pretty good to me.

.

[kiryandil]

Walt, like Mike, learned much too late that it doesn’t pay to attack a law enforcement officer.

Actually, police officer Slager attacked Walt.

[Does so]

The cop discharged the Taser at Scott. If they grappled over it the thing was useless against the cop as a Taser unless the Taser was reloaded with another cartridge. Granted, it could still be used as a stun gun but only in close proximity.

The Tasers I'm familiar with, have a 2-shot capacity (4 barbs).

[kiryandil]

in the struggle for the weapon the office was struck with the taser. The lanyard was still attached to the barb and the fleeing suspect was entangled in the lanyard. If the fleeing suspect still had the taser he could incapacitate the officer at any time. The officer shot at the suspect not knowing if the suspect still had the taser or was just caught up in the lanyard. Shooting is justified.

Neat trick, when one of the Taser barbs was stuck in the dead guy...

[familyop]

In rebuttal against another canard being disseminated by state/county/municipal government interests, the falsehood claiming that Slager cannot get the death penalty:

SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
April 7, 2015
POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH MURDER
http://www.sled.state.sc.us/CISystem/Images/NewsPress/SNP0804.pdf
Excerpt:
“Michael Slager was charged with Murder, a felony which carries a penalty upon conviction of death or a term of 30 years to life in prison.”

---

List of punishments for murder in the United States
South Carolina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_punishments_for_murder_in_the_United_States#South_Carolina
South Carolina
Offense Mandatory sentencing
Murder Death, Life without parole, 30 years to Life or 30 years in prison

[familyop]

[Reformat of the Wikipedia table text here to better show intended meaning there.]

In rebuttal against another canard being disseminated by state/county/municipal government interests, the falsehood claiming that Slager cannot get the death penalty:

SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
April 7, 2015
POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH MURDER
http://www.sled.state.sc.us/CISystem/Images/NewsPress/SNP0804.pdf
Excerpt:
“Michael Slager was charged with Murder, a felony which carries a penalty upon conviction of death or a term of 30 years to life in prison.”

---

List of punishments for murder in the United States
South Carolina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_punishments_for_murder_in_the_United_States#South_Carolina
South Carolina
Offense: Murder
Mandatory sentencing: Death, Life without parole, 30 years to Life or 30 years in prison

[Yardstick]

It’s not as clear cut as that. Until 1985 a cop could legally kill any fleeing felon. SCOTUS narrowed the law via the Garner case but still allowed a cop to kill the perp if he considered him to be a serious threat to himself or others.

This is where it gets a little grey. Just moments before Slager shot Scott, Scott was fighting with him and had grabbed his taser. This made Scott a mortal threat to Slager. It was then that Slager justifiably decided to draw his gun and kill him. Slager’s mistake was in failing to unmake that decision once the situation changed and Scott started to run. But even then, you’re talking about someone who was willing to fight a cop and grab his weapon. What if Scott had run to the nearby pawnshop and beaten someone up?

You say that’s far fetched but consider the situation from Slager’s POV given what he had just been through with Scott. That’s why I think the murder charge won’t stick.

[conservativejoy]

Since the sentence is mandatory, depending on what the evidence shows, a jury may not convict him unless the charge is lowered to manslaughter.

[kiryandil]

Your Mr. Scott made a lot of bad mistakes, none the least of his actions that fateful day.

This is kind of like the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case.

Everyone who wanted Zimmerman's hide said he should have just stayed in the truck. Michael Slager should have just stayed in his squad car. He had Walter Scott's license, his car, and his passenger. He had NO duty to go after Scott, per the Supreme Court.

I might even define what he did as "police vigilantism*".

*Vigilantism. Taking the law into one's own hands and attempting to effect justice according to one's own understanding of right and wrong

Michael Slager was wrong to pursue Walter Scott.

A wise policeman says about engaging in ill-advised pursuits: "No. No, indeed. Hell, no."

click on the YouTube vid to get advice about these things. (Hat-tip to The Baytown Outlaws) :)

X-spurt - your Mr. Slager made a lot of bad mistakes, none the least of his actions that fateful day.

[kiryandil]

But even then, you’re talking about someone who was willing to fight a cop and grab his weapon.

Officer Slager picked the fight. His mistake - a bad one.

[familyop]

Or depending on jury selection... But either way, the problem will come out in the wash. There are consequences for many different kinds of actions. Some people do drastic things whether considering consequences or not, but only criminal minds with their vanities refuse to consider consequences. Criminal minds can now easily be found in all walks of life.

[Shimmer1]

It’s ok though, cause he got what he deserved for those heinous acts!! He got shot in the back for it!

[Digital Handyman]

Eight shots at a fleeing man and a filed report that is contradicted by video evidence - evidence that includes dropping the taser by the body (planting evidence) doesn’t leave a lot of grey area. There was no need to kill that man in that situation.

A man facing a murder charge who has conclusive evidence against him also indicating obstruction of justice (dropping the taser by the body after the kill) and falsifying official documents is not likely to have any other part of his testimony believed at trial.

My guess is that he’s looking at a 20 year sentence.