Posted on 04/08/2015 1:06:17 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
The video appears to be damning: a white police officer fatally shooting a black man in the back as he ran away.
The shooting of Walter Scott by North Charleston, S.C., police Officer Thomas Stager has generated national outrage. Stager has been fired and charged with murder.
Legal and police tactics experts said the video would be powerful evidence in the criminal case. But they say it still leaves Stager’s defense with options.
One likely defense focus will be what is not on the video. The interaction between Scott and Stager before the shooting is not seen, nor is the traffic stop that began the incident. Defense attorneys will probably push on this, the experts said, telling jurors that the video doesn’t tell the whole story.
“What was the conversation and interaction between the officer and the subject?” said retired Los Angeles police Capt. Greg Meyer. “Why did the subject run away?”
(Excerpt) Read more at touch.latimes.com ...
I heard an interview with the eye witness and he said before he started videoing the incident, the victim and the cop were on the ground wrestling.....
It’s not clear at this point that the officer was attempting to plant the taser.
First, when Officer Slager dropped the taser next to Scott, another officer, who was attending Scott, was facing Officer Slager and could clearly see that he was dropping the taser at the scene. Both officers knew that they were being watched and/or recorded as evidenced by their visual acknowledgment of the witness’s presence. They’re trained to know where observers are standing in such situations. The other officer made no indication that anything out of the ordinary was going on with the taser being moved, which would be very odd if he thought Slager was planting evidence in the presence of a witness.
Second, the taser had been discharged and the probes were attached to Scott’s clothing. There are likely standard procedures for removing the probes and securing the weapon. One would not expect an officer to leave his loaded service weapon 25+ feet away.
Third, in my post #177 above, Officer Slager appears to notice the taser on the ground to his right lying near Scott. He bends down, picks it up, & appears to holster or secure it. So, it was not part of the crime scene when the scene was processed. It also appears that the attending officer had moved the taser from where Officer Slager dropped it. Perhaps he did so when he was removing the probes. That is unclear.
Officer Slager was still the lone officer on scene when he hurried to retrieve the taser. Being alone in a situation that could quickly escalate with witnesses gathering, he seems to have been securing a loose weapon so it couldn’t be picked up by gathering witnesses. When he was returning to Scott’s body, the second officer walked onto the scene.
It seems evident to me that Officer Slager intentionally killed Walter Scott, but it doesn’t seem clear to me that he was attempting to plant the taser.
If your theory is correct that he was securing the weapon, then why’d he drop it near the wounded (not yet dead) suspect? It wasn’t properly secured until after others arrived and the guy was dead.
Because you and your cop-hating friends have appointed yourselves judge, jury and executioner of a man who deserves a fair trial. If you are so darned concerned over the rights of the man who got shot, why does this man get better treatment than the cop who is protecting you? If the cop is found guilty, then punishment is due...but, if it is found that there is more to the story (and there usually is) why not support the LOE? Do you begin with a preference to the guys breaking the law? The stop began with a tail light, why would the guy need to run because of child support? It smells like an old tuna boat...but you and the cop-haters jumped to conclusion that because you saw a video, you know all. Makes me sick that the left-leaning, antinomianists have taken over the streets. Ferguson is now “proof”....Really? Everyone was absolutely certain of what happened there, too! If the man had hold of the tazer to begin with, he was simply putting things into perspective. And, if you believe that this guy was just “waiting to kill someone” then he could have done this a hundred times before...please.
Thanks for the trial by intuition.
...
I think some people prefer the lynching process.
Thorough investigations and allowing a defense takes too much time.
As I said, he dropped it right in front of the second officer. The scene was secure at that point because the second officer was present and Slager had handcuffed Scott before he went to retrieve the taser from the site of the struggle.
Thorough investigations and allowing a defense takes too much time."
Exactly...especially if it is an LOE. They must feel so powerful to stand up to the "man". Bill Ayers & George Soros would be proud.
Pull your panties out of your slit and take a breath.
Is that the taser? What’s in front of the cop? In the first part of the video I’ve seen, you can see the wires from the taser attached to Scott.
It depends on if the cop claims the taser and its location as evidence against the victim.
Yes, that appears to be the taser dropping behind Slager. Notice the shape and coloring of the object. You can see the yellow coloring on the grip and sides of the taser. Yes, the taser was discharged and probes were attached to Scott’s clothing. That could have happened during the struggle over the taser. The video does seem to show wires trailing from Scott’s clothing.
I have no idea what is on the ground in front of Officer Slager. I thought it was a shoe at first, but it isn’t.
What depends? Whether or not the taser was processed as part of the crime scene? If so, true.
The same would apply to his service weapon.
Clean up, please. This is a discussion, not the DU.
You just can’t help but act like a hall monitor, eh?
Would you like to speak to a hall monitor?
That is the question.
IMHO, He will not be offered a manslaughter plea. There's too much publicity. The current claims are that the officer reported that the victim had his Taser, and that he provided CPR to no avail. If those statements were actually made and if the officer did juice the scene, as it appears, no plea less than murder two will be offered, and no jury will rule on anything less.
It appears that I already am.
See 202. I don’t think he was planting evidence.
No, just someone carrying on a discussion about fairness to LOEs. Then, you show up.
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