H/T maggiemoowho at CTH
"Here is a very clear, zoomed in video. Much easier to see objects"

(the video is a little larger if you click on "Vimeo" and watch there.)


Walter Scott shooting
from The Post and Courier

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

From CTH...

“The Passenger” – The Walter Scott Vehicle Is A Curious Concern To Scott Scheme Team Narrative….
Posted on April 10, 2015 by sundance



Last night on CNN with Anderson Cooper, Scott Family Attorney Chris Stewart stated they didn’t know who the passenger was with Walter Scott when he was pulled over. However, he also said they (attorneys, Julison and Scheme Team) were quickly searching for him.

Against the backdrop that Walter Scott fled after giving up his Driver’s License, thereby easily identifying his personage, an obvious issue is: what was more risky to him than staying in an innocuous traffic stop and being processed/cited? Something not passing the sniff test.

...more at link
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/201 ... narrative/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Chip are you around? I would like to be able to discuss this case with you and anyone who is willing to look at things objectively.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/can ... g-suspect/

Nice summary of when it is acceptable to use force and when it isn't.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/04/09/so ... ive-force/

This guy is toast.

IF I was on a Jury.. knowing only what I have seen so far.. I would want to see a lot more... Slagers evidence for sure.

As things stand... I would vote NOT GUILTY... it's a no-brainer?

There is a presumption of innocence.

You CAN NOT (sensibly) evaluate cases.. as True Gossip Forums always do.. with a PRESUMPTION OF GUILT as your "null hypothesis" and pick out evidence that supports that hypothesis. That is NOT how the Justice system is set up to determine guilt/innocence. It is not a logical (scientific) way to asses criminal cases. The "Null Hypothesis" in criminal cases is "The defendant is innocent" It is INTENTIONALLY a difficult task to disprove that BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT!

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

“As we focus in on the facts, we will probably have more to say, but it is far too early for us to be saying what we think. Slager’s previous counsel fell into that trap and we have no intention of doing our client further harm.”

This is my hope that Slager's attorney gives him a good defense and that the case is decided on the facts not fear of the BGI. I think Slager's is lucky that his first attorney tucked his tail and ran. Amazing.

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

It should be pretty easy for a prosecutor to argue excessive force. I don't think they can get murder to stick, but manslaughter should be cake. In fact, let's take a step back. Why was the use of the taser even justified at the point he used it? Who was the one who escalated the situation? I think it is going to be very easy to show that Slager had many other options at his disposal rather than turn a broken taillight into a shooting.

Scott's funeral draws overflow crowd to S.C. church

USA TODAY
By Doug Stanglin | April 11, 2015 12:16 p.m. EDT

An overflow crowd of mourners turned out Saturday for the funeral in Summerville, S.C., of Walter Scott, whose fatal shooting at the hands of a white North Charleston, S.C., officer has stirred a national debate over the use of force by police.

In a highly public gesture by North Charleston city officials, the hearse carrying Scott's body was accompanied by a police escort of two officers on motorcycles.

Despite the intense national media attention on the case, the Scott family barred cameras from the three-hour service, which was delayed because of the crowd pressing to get in.

...more at link (photos)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/11/walter-scott-north-charleston-south-carolina-shooting/25625029/

There's a few huge parts of the story missing.

What did the officer know about the driver and or vehicle prior to stopping him/it? Did he get a chance to type something in his terminal when he went back to his car that may have told him something?

Why did Scott run? Was it just for outstanding child support?

What happened off camera between the time Scott ran off the dash cam view and the witness videoing it?

These questions are not to justify the cop shooting and killing Scott but, rather know the full story before committing my opinion to his guilt or innocence.

I can't at this point assume Slager escalated anything when he caught up to Scott because no one knows exactly what happened at that point. Did Scott during the scuffle, grab Slager's taser? Did he reach for Slager's gun? With out knowing those facts, we don't have the full story. All we do know at this point is, Slager stopped Scott for a tail light, Scott gave conflicting info regarding his ownership of the vehicle and Scott fled the scene and Slager chased after him and then we saw him shoot Scott after Scott ran again.

I'd like to know what happened between the time he ran off view of the dash cam to when the witness started videoing him running away from Slager and getting shot, before I voice an opinion.

You may be right, Mung but I would not bet on Manslaughter even. I await the evidence.. as Froggie outlines.

I am FED UP with the Corey-esque game of OVERCHARGING as a ploy to ensure some lesser charge as a "consolation verdict" by a Jury. A "Consolation Verdict" is NOT justice at all. It is a blatant ploy. It sets up the "trial by media" and play on emotions and sympathy for "victim's" family.
A trial is SUPPOSED to be about FACTS and not emotion and feelings of sympathy. Judges often state that in Jury instructions.. but Jury members are human.. it get in and some (most) prosecutors play to it. Jim Guy has provided some clear examples .. over the top examples.. in both the Zimmerman and Wafer trials.

So IF the prosecution think the evidence in this case proves "Manslaughter" they should charge manslaughter.

A point that seems to get overlooked.
Although cops are not "above the law", their circumstance IS not the same as a private citizen. They are trained and AUTHORIZED to use deadly force for instance. You can not view a cops actions exactly the same as you would same actions by a private citizen. For instance... A cop MAY well have a duty to stop a fleeing felon... part of his "Job" to protect citizens beyond himself and immediate surroundings.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I agree that there is too much missing to guess at a future verdict. I look forward to seeing Slager's statement. Scott resisted arrest, he at the very least, used some amount of force to break a physical hold that an officer had on him, Scott fled from an officer at least twice, he lied to Officer Slager, and it appears that an officer was headed in Scotts direction, IMO when the taser flies behind Slager it seems only Scott could have caused that action, so IMO Slager may have reasonably thought that Scott was a danger to those immediately in the surrounding area.

Also I bear in mind that Officer Slager must have in his mind that Scott is fleeing for a reason, Scott was never patted down so Slager may have also had in the back of his mind that an agitated fleeing felon, possibly armed, is escaping his command. Slager's actions were taken with him well aware of the dangerous climate that is upon us due to the BGI and the point blank officer shootings by the FTP devotees.

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Image if we only saw a video of Wilson shooting Brown when he was running away. No video of Brown running back, no knowledge of what happened prior to the shooting or why Brown ran in the first place. Remember, Jackson came out at first and said Wilson had no knowledge of Brown robbing the Market. It wasn't until after the reports came out that we knew for sure that Wilson knew of the robbery. So up til that point, for all we knew in Wilson's mind, Brown was just jaywalking.

Wilson didn't fire on Brown until Brown came back at him and that is a huge difference here.

Yes there could be more information that changes things, but this seems to be a case that is actually an officer that shouldn't have been on the force.

Exactly, Froggie! I can remember tweeting, for several days, that Wilson DID'T know about the robbery.
I am going to gather information on this one before sticking my neck out. I have personal opinions but want to watch this play-out for a bit.

Clown leader Deray being there "on location" makes me want to
And a busload left Ferguson this morning heading that way? SMH

Hi mung, good to see you back at RT.
Yes, a big difference in this and Brown/Wilson case in a million ways. And, I am mainly referring to info getting "out there" as the truth before facts become available.

Nice to meet you.

I never really left, just had been doing more reading than posting.

It is nice to meet you too.

We will see what happens with this case, It is going to take a lot to overcome the video though.

Hi Mung, Molly, Froggie and anyone else around,

I agree that there is a big difference in the Wilson/Slager cases but as someone aptly pointed out at CTH there would be no need for a the word “fleeing” if felons could only be shot in the front of their body as a felon walking or running backwards would be a curious case. So there are times a felon can legally be shot in the back. The debate then becomes is this one of the times that it was lawful for a felon to be shot in the back. Santana said there was a “tussle” the recording indicates to me that it is highly likely that Scott threw the taser or was in possession of it, why would Santana say that Scott never used the taser on Slager if Slager was always in control of the taser? There is more to the story. But if the law is

TENNESSEE v. GARNER, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
471 U.S. 1

Where the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape by using deadly force. Thus, if the suspect threatens the officer with a weapon or there is probable cause to believe that he has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm, deadly force may be used if necessary to prevent escape, and if, where [471 U.S. 1, 12]   feasible, some warning has been given. As applied in such circumstances, the Tennessee statute would pass constitutional muster.

and Slager had probable cause that Scott posed a threat of serious physical harm, either to Slager or others, then Slager has a legal leg to stand on.

Now whether Slager believed that or not is unknown, what Slagers statement is, is unknown and I believe the reason Slager’s statement remains under lock and key is purely political, I believe in the eyes of the law Scott became a fleeing violent felon when (and if) he tried to disarm Slager of his taser and it does appear Scott did so.

There is a reason that Santana has a Crump connected attorney, there is a reason Julison is involved, there is a narrative being pushed by the media and the truth of Scott’s death is of no interest to them. This is no more about Scott’s death than Ferguson was about Brown’s death. Pushing the narrative is always more important to the BGI than “black lives.”

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Mung, I have a question for you if Scott's fingerprints are on the taser and if Slager did not know whether or not Scott was armed, if Slager genuinely believed at the time of the shooting that Scott was in possession of his taser, do you think it would be reasonable of Slager to believe that Scott posed a threat of serious physical harm to an officer or civilian who would have the misfortune of being in Scott's immediate path given the level of defiance Scott showed toward Officer Slager?

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji