Info on the use of the taser here.
Coroner: Walter Scott died from multiple gunshot wounds to the back
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3278555/posts
And on what’s being done with the case (see “inconsistencies,” etc.).
SLED: Video confirmed investigators’ early suspicions of Walter Scott’s death
http://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3278558/posts
Yeah, it was pretty obvious to me that CT was wrong about Slager getting hit by the taser. What is correct in their analysis is that the pursuit and subsequent struggle took place over quite a bit of time and distance, and that Scott had managed to get hold of Slager’s taser. It was the latter that set the shooting in motion.
Prior to 1985 and the Garner case, the law, in the form of the fleeing felon rule, would have been squarely on Slager’s side. It said that cops can shoot fleeing felons. Garner narrowed the law by requiring an officer to have probable cause to believe the suspect poses a threat to himself or others. It gives considerable leeway to the fact that police have to make snap decisions in the heat of the moment by allowing the officer’s perceptions at the time to be considered rather than 20/20 hindsight.
This is where I think there’s a grey area. Can it be said beyond a reasonable doubt that Slager, in the moment after fighting with Scott and after Scott had tried to get hold of his weapon, did not have probable cause to believe that Scott was a danger if he were allowed to flee?
I think this case is going to come down to applying the Garner guidelines, and I think there’s enough space in there for the defense to argue its way out of a murder conviction.