SOURCE: Charleston City Paper- October 24, 2016, Dustin Waters | Read entire article
Attorneys for Michael Slager laid out a compelling narrative in court Friday, portraying their client as an officer left on his own to patrol one of North Charleston’s most dangerous neighborhoods before being misled by investigators looking into the events surrounding the death of Walter Scott.
Several of Slager’s former fellow officers along with North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers testified Friday, sharing their versions of what happened on April 4, 2015 — the day Slager fatally shot Scott following a traffic stop for a broken third brake light. Police rushed to the scene off of Craig Street where Slager had chased Scott. Once there, officers and investigators were tasked with securing the area and determining how a traffic stop had escalated into an officer-involved shooting. On that day, Slager is said to have shared his own account of what transpired. After chasing Scott into an empty trailer park, Slager fired his Taser at Scott, which proved to be ineffective.
Reloading his Taser, Slager fired again, this time dropping Scott to the ground. From this point, Slager says a struggle ensued. The officer pressed his Taser into Scott’s side in another effort to subdue the suspect, but Scott was allegedly able to wrestle the Taser away. The former officer whose trial begins Oct. 31 claims that as the two men returned to their feet, Scott pointed the Taser at him. Slager then says he then stepped aside, pulled his pistol, and opened fire as Scott turned away.
Attorney Andy Savage told the court Friday that there is new evidence consistent with Slager being tased following testing and comparisons with marks left on the former officers shirt he was wearing during the struggle.
… Read entire story on charlestoncitypaper.com
SOURCE: Charleston City Paper- October 24, 2016, Dustin Waters