After mistrial, slain SC motorist's family still confident
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Relatives of Walter Scott, the black motorist fatally shot while fleeing a traffic stop, say they are confident justice will prevail even though a South Carolina jury could not reach a verdict in the murder trial of a white former police officer charged in his death.
The panel, considering verdicts of murder or voluntary manslaughter, deliberated more than 22 hours over four days and heard testimony from 55 witnesses during the five-week trial.
The April 2015 shooting of the 50-year-old Scott was captured on widely distributed cellphone video that renewed a national debate about how blacks are treated by law officers.
Scott's family called for calm at the time, which is thought to have helped prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere when blacks were killed by police.
A mistrial was declared Nov. 12 when a Cincinnati jury couldn't reach a verdict in the case of a former campus police officer who was also charged with shooting a black motorist.
The city also asked the U.S. Justice Department conduct a review of its police department policies to see how it could improve its relationship with residents.