One Juror Deadlocks Jury In Trial Of Officer Who Killed Walter Scott

Once again, it seems impossible to get a fair verdict in what should have been an open-and-shut case involving a police officer.

Officer Michael Slager was caught on video shooting Walter Scott in the back as he was running away after a traffic stop.

But one juror simply couldn't manage to fairly deliberate. One juror, and as anyone who has ever served on a jury knows, that's all it takes.

New York Times:

As prosecutors and Mr. Slager’s defense lawyers consider their options, they are certain to consider the feedback that emerged from a jury that appeared bitterly divided during deliberations that began on Wednesday. In a letter to Judge Newman on Friday, a single juror said he could not “in good conscience consider a guilty verdict.”

Why this was not a basis for replacing said juror with an alternate, I do not know. It seems clear that juror was not deliberating in good faith.

But the jury’s foreman, the only black member of the panel, said in a separate note to the judge that the group was mostly in agreement that Mr. Slager should be convicted: “It’s just one juror that has the issues.” The foreman also said, “That juror needs to leave. He is having issues.”

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