COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A former South Carolina police officer wants an independent review of the Taser used the day he shot and killed an unarmed motorist.
Attorneys for Michael Slager asked state prosecutors Wednesday to send his Taser to a forensic examiner in Arizona. In court papers, Slager’s defense attorneys say a new examination could clarify trial testimony about Taser use they feel was “inaccurate.”
Last year, jurors couldn’t reach a verdict in Slager’s state murder trial for shooting Walter Scott as Scott tried to flee a North Charleston traffic stop in April 2015. A bystander captured the shooting on cellphone video.
Slager testified he used his Taser on Scott, who grabbed it and came at him.
Slager’s retrial is scheduled for August. His federal civil rights trial is expected this spring.
