Juror: Video of Murder Not Enough to Convict of Murder.
NORTH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — At the conclusion of the murder trial of Michael Slager — the South Carolina police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott, an unarmed motorist in April of 2015 — one juror is having a hard time convicting the officer of murder without more evidence. It’s hard to blame the lone juror, as the prosecution was only able to produce actual video footage of the exact moment when Slager murdered Scott. Without more evidence, it’s difficult to see how the juror could then turn around and convict the officer of exactly what the video showed. “I just need more proof. Seeing a legally authenticated video recording of the officer murdering Scott might be enough to get the ball rolling, but without more, I’m just not sure how I can convict him of what I saw him do.”
While tens of millions of Americans — including the 11 other jurors who sat through the entire murder trial — thought it was easy to see, just from the video, that Slager could not have been in fear for his life when he methodically shot at and killed Scott from a stable and upright position as Scott was running away from him, the lone juror doesn’t think it’s that simple. “Well sure we may have video evidence showing that Slager was not in fear for his life at the time he shot and killed Scott, but when his lawyers asked him [Slager] if he was in fear for his life, he said he was,” said the juror of the officer who is facing up to life in prison if convicted. “If I’m going to convict him, I’m going to need Slager to tell me in person or at least through personal text or Facebook messenger that he did unjustifiably shoot and kill that man. After that, then I would maybe consider voting to convict.”
Of course many are wondering what role race has played in this scenario involving a white juror having difficulty convicting the white officer who was miraculously caught on film at just the right time to show how he calmly and illegally shot at and killed an unarmed black man in the back. This of course simultaneously gave Scott’s family and the black community at large a false sense of hope that justice would be both colorblind and served. When the issue of race came up, the juror allegedly said they “don’t see color” and that they “just see a decent honest hard working American who made a mistake and deserves all the compassion and forgiveness this country has to offer and a thug.”
Jury deliberations are set to continue Monday as the lone juror waits for a confessional personal text message from Slager and black people wait for their lives to be fully valued in America. At press time, it looked like both parties may end up disappointed.
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