When they return to court Monday, jurors will have had three days to ruminate on questions they heard from attorneys hoping to upend the case against the policeman who killed Walter Scott.
With all but a few of the 27 witnesses called in former North Charleston patrolman Michael Slager’s murder trial, opposing attorneys have gone tit-for-tat in conveying their views of Scott’s shooting death through the questions they ask.
The presiding judge had cautioned them not to testify themselves through their own inquires, but the tactic has persisted. The defense’s challenge Thursday of a leading investigator was no different.
“You know that this whole case is not about the shooting; it’s about what led to the shooting. Isn’t that correct?” defense lawyer Andy Savage asked him.
“The case is what the case is,” Lt. Charles Ghent of the State Law Enforcement Division said.
A prosecutor, Chief Deputy Solicitor Bruce DuRant, sought to rebut the questioning.
“Did (Slager) appear to be in danger at the time he shot Mr. Scott?”
“He did not,” Ghent said.
For the prosecution, the hope is to portray Slager as an officer who turned vengeful in a sliver of time, and carried out a callous killing that was caught on video. The defense strategy is to turn some of the blame on Scott for running away and fighting the officer, to paint him as a drug user who disliked cops and bucked their authority.
The sides couldn’t disagree more, and the kind of courtroom confrontations that materialized in the first six days of testimony will not end as the trial enters its third week Monday.
https://twitter.com/offlede/status/799055883527475200
https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/798630397185695745
I meant to put the above on the Tuesday open discussion page.
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798608575069356032
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798608250199379968
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798605545401745410
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798606736454205440
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798606948790734848
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798603104295845888
Pray tell, how does the jury get to deliberate on what witnesses testify to, if they aren’t present in the courtroom?
https://twitter.com/readthebrooks/status/798603388363493376
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798585783577931777
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798563694846177280
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https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798538860162650120
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798539398421872640
Savage was told by witness who took the video that there was NO fight on the ground. Defense attorney needs to STOP say “fight.”
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798537175398813700
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798537396459421696
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798536944657592321
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https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798523475308576769
https://twitter.com/postandcourier/status/798525981430607872
I’ve not been following this trial closely. Thank you for covering it, SG2.
Where is the jury on this, doyou think?
They can’t be anywhere but guilty. Cops testified that Slager description of what happened differed from the video.
Thanks for all of your work keeping us up to date here, SG2.
https://twitter.com/offlede/status/798271999726514176
https://twitter.com/offlede/status/798264513627914240
https://twitter.com/ABCNews4/status/798271448385224704
https://twitter.com/neutralnews/status/798263791691526145
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798208608039305216
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798208036938645504
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798207425882918912
Good thing there is a witness video.
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798246264492019712
https://twitter.com/offlede/status/798260457068957696
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798236030113456128
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https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798191897684611072
LIVE COVERAGE OF MICHAEL SLAGER TRIAL
https://twitter.com/DeonWLTX/status/798179095020453888
The reporters covering the Michael Slager Trial suck.
https://twitter.com/ABCNews4/status/798196901313183744
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798188829605666816
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798187135496896512
https://twitter.com/brindge/status/798189803221053440
https://twitter.com/LorenThomasTV/status/796819305786699776
https://twitter.com/LorenThomasTV/status/796818652960059392
not in the video
https://twitter.com/ChuckRingwalt/status/798178090862182400
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798179370426843137
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798179157381419010
https://twitter.com/policereporter/status/798149521972822016