Crime

Officer Who Shot Walter Scott Faces Sentencing

Former police officer Michael Slager pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in the shooting death of Walter Scott.

Officer Who Shot Walter Scott Faces Sentencing
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Former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager's sentencing hearing starts Monday. Slager is the ex-officer who pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in the shooting death of an unarmed black man.

In April 2015, Slager pulled over Walter Scott for a broken taillight. Dashcam video shows that after a short conversation, Scott ran away from the car and that after a foot chase, Slager fired eight shots, killing Scott.

Slager's state murder trial ended in a hung jury last year when the jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. As part of a plea agreement, South Carolina dropped that pending murder charge, and the federal government dropped two other charges

The maximum sentence for the civil rights violation is life in prison, but the Charleston Post and Courier calls that unlikely. Scott's brother told the paper he hopes Slager gets at least 20 years.