South Carolina COP charged with murder

[bofh]

You are misreading the plea agreement. He is pleading guilty to excessive force, not Second Degree Murder and Obstruction of Justice. Read paragraph 2.a:

That, in North Charleston, South Carolina, the defendant deprived Walter Lamar Scott, Jr., of the right to be free from the unreasonable and excessive use of force by a law enforcement officer, a right secured by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution;

The mention of Second Degree Murder and Obstruction of Justice is only the sentencing recommendations the government is going to make to the judge because that was basically the final result of Slager's actions. Settling on excessive use of force removes any minimum sentence requirements.

Yes, you are right. When I was writing the post, I was reading the sentencing guidelines at the same time in trying to understand the 3-level reduction.

 

[NavyLCDR]

I'm still going to bet the judge gives him 2 years, minus time already served, and out on 5 years probation in six months.

 

[BluesStringer]

I don't know about riots or anything like that, maybe, maybe not, but I agree that the sentence will be excessively light and release will come way earlier than the actual sentence.

My original reply to this thread from 2+ years ago offered a gentleman's bet that can still be taken up since sentencing hasn't happened yet. Like Navy, I think my prediction on sentencing will be close.

I will be amazed if this cop is convicted of anything more than excessive force, if that even. Consider Johannes Mehserle, the murdering cop who killed Oscar Grant in Oakland, CA several years ago. Mehserle was charged with first degree murder, convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to two years (!!!), but was out in less than 1 year. I know it's two different coasts, two different situations, two different cities and two different cultural norms for the respective areas, but it's the same "justice" system when it comes to cops. There were multiple videos of Grant's killing, shot in the back while handcuffed laying face down on the concrete. Mehserle just "mistook" his service weapon for his taser according to his defense strategy, which in and of itself would've been excessive force to deploy since Grant was already in custody. Juries are as blinded by that badge as much as cops are brainwashed into believing that The People would still be their enemy even if they acted like human beings towards us.

I'm going to try to keep up with this story. Any gentleman's bets on this cop getting more than Mehserle did (2 years)? I say no way. What say you?

BTW, thanks for the update Reba. I'd be pretty surprised if assurances weren't given by the feds to Slager that he wouldn't spend much time behind bars. Otherwise, I can't imagine why he'd plead guilty to anything, so rare is it that the top charge against a cop is ever judged guilty by juries in this country. I 'spose the judge could deviate however he/she likes from any assurances the feds might've given, but judges too are known for their general bias towards cops in both trial rulings and sentencing. Be interesting to know if this judge has a record of sentencing convicted cops, but I'm not interested enough to go looking for it. I'll either be surprised with a stiff sentence, or completely unsurprised with a light one, and no hand-wringing on my part is gonna matter a wit to the judge or the wider unjustice system.

Blues

 

[BluesStringer]

Link Removed. Better people than I'd ever be if I were in their shoes....

 

[Reba]

My prediction - he will get 2 years sentence and be out on parole in 6 months. And there will be riots when the sentence is handed down.

No riots. We had no riots after the initial shooting or after Slager's first trial which ended in mistrial. Unless some carpetbagger comes to stir up trouble, there should be no riots. The Scott family told certain black "leaders" to not show up at his funeral unless they kept quiet, and that's how it went.

The Scott family is satisfied with the court actions so far.

". . . Scott's mother, though, walked out of the courthouse and stood in front of a bank of microphones. She raised her hands, smiled and thanked God. And she forgave Slager before deflecting a question about how many years of imprisonment she thought he deserves.

'Michael Slager admitted what he did,' she said. 'That was enough years for me because no matter how many years Michael Slager gets, it would not bring back my son.'"

Ex-police officer Michael Slager pleads guilty to civil rights charge in Walter Scott shooting; state murder case dropped | News | postandcourier.com


Same way people reacted after the Emanuel Nine were killed in Charleston. No riots. There was forgiveness by the victims and families, and many showings of support.

 

[Reba]

Link Removed. Better people than I'd ever be if I were in their shoes....

Some of the extended family are my neighbors. They are a very sweet, friendly and positive family, and good neighbors.

 

[BluesStringer]

Some of the extended family are my neighbors. They are a very sweet, friendly and positive family, and good neighbors.

April 29 through May 4 of this year is the 25th "anniversary" of the Rodney King riots. Before May was over, we had resettled in Alabama. The 25-year milestone has had a ton of coverage on TV of which I've watched a bit, but reliving it is no more fun than livin' it the first time was, so I've chosen to avoid the coverage for the most part.

Never seen a hint of rioting anywhere in this state. Antifa thought they could instigate one in Auburn a week or so ago, but nothing significant sparked off that I'm aware of. I doubt I'll ever live in another city, but if I were going to, Mrs. Scott and Walter's brother, and you too, have convinced me that Charleston is one of a very short list that I might consider. I had read some quotes from Momma Scott before, but don't think I'd ever seen or heard her before this morning when I saw that video. Mother Theresa had nothin' on her! Congrats to Charleston. I'm glad cooler heads are prevailing.

I'm not as forgiving as Mrs. Scott. I hope Slager gets life, though I know he won't. There'd be no sense at all to plead guilty if he knew he would still face life, so I'm pretty sure mine and Navy's predictions (except for the rioting of course) are gonna be closer to what happens than what I think he deserves. I will say that I thought it was over after the mistrial, so this is one time I'm glad to have been wrong, but I still don't think he'll get what he should. One of the videos at the link I gave had the reporters from the station saying that it would still be "months" before we'll know what his sentence will be. The wheels of "justice" grind slowly....

Blues

 

[NavyLCDR]

I stand corrected.

 

[XD40scinNC]

No riots. We had no riots after the initial shooting or after Slager's first trial which ended in mistrial. Unless some carpetbagger comes to stir up trouble, there should be no riots. The Scott family told certain black "leaders" to not show up at his funeral unless they kept quiet, and that's how it went.

Guess Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't have a yearning for some low country cuisine.

 

[Reba]

Update:

Slager pled guilty to Federal charges and got 20 years. There will be no re-trial.

 

[S&W645]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/07/michael-slager-walter-scott-second-degree-murder

 

[BluesStringer]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/07/michael-slager-walter-scott-second-degree-murder

Interesting that a British publication leads with an issue that rarely even gets mentioned in the routine media coverage of police shootings here in the States. The very first line after the Title at that link says:

"Sentence on ex-South Carolina officer unusually severe for police shooting" (emphasis mine)

The Guardian doesn't stop there. In fact, the story focuses more on the "unusual" nature of the severe sentence than it does on the facts of the specific case he got sentenced for. Guess that could be said to be because Slager pleaded guilty and after that, there's not much to say, but whatever, I found this to be demonstrative of what (seemingly) few Americans are willing to face:

"According to data from the Guardian’s 2015 investigation into police killings, The Counted, Slager is the fifth officer to be convicted of a crime in relation to an on-duty 2015 shooting incident, and the first to be convicted of murder. The Guardian found 1,146 people were killed by police in 2015."

Now, certainly some of those shootings were completely justifiable. Maybe even most of them. But no one can honestly believe that only five out of 1,146 shootings resulting in deaths by non-sworn citizens would go without being convicted of something related to the shooting itself.

I'm glad Slager plead guilty, because I think the chance of him getting 20 years if the case went to trial are extremely slim. Then again, I'm not as familiar with federal prosecution stats as I am with run-of-the-mill jurisdictional stats, so maybe my perception is based more in cynicism towards all government than in reality, but still, The Guardian leads with the issue of the rarity of such a conviction, so I feel like I'm on pretty solid ground in believing that this particular rare conviction and sentence will do little (if anything) to resolve the disparity between cop convictions/sentences and non-cop across the country.

Blues