Judge declares mistrial in case of Michael Slager

[embed-1]After more than 20 hours of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Michael Slager informed the judge that they would be unable to come to a unanimous verdict. Reading a note handed down from the jurors Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman said the 12 men and women tasked with deciding the former North Charleston officer’s fate could not reach a decision despite their best efforts. Newman would then declare a mistrial in the state case stemming from the fatal shooting of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015.

The judge thanked the jurors, some crying as they looked on, saying, “It’s a difficult task … That’s the way the system works.”

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson then addressed the jurors, expressing her gratitude for their service, before turning her thanks to the Scott family. After court was adjourned, Judy Scott, Walter Scott’s mother, said, “We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses … We have the federal trial and another trial to go. I am going to trust in the Lord and rest in the Lord.”

Walter Scott’s brother Anthony Scott expressed his regret that a verdict was not reached, but echoed his mother’s sentiments that Slager will again face trial. Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said that Solicitor Wilson will immediately begin preparations for retrying Slager.

“I wish you had been the one,” Wilson said during her closing comments to jury Monday. “But there will be another try.”