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.
It depends on if the cop claims the taser and its location as evidence against the victim.