The Post and Courier reports that former North Charleston officer Michael Slager was indicted this week on a federal civil rights charge in Walter Scott’s death, a rare measure in police shootings that gives authorities another route to reach a conviction.
Scott’s loved ones and their attorneys on Wednesday also called it a watershed moment for a nationwide push in recent years to shed light on questionable uses of force by police officers.
Chief among Slager’s three charges is a count of deprivation of rights under color of law. Public officials are barred under federal laws from using their powers to violate personal “rights, privileges or immunities.” The indictment alleges that Slager was acting with his authority as a policeman when he used unreasonable force — a violation of the Constitution — by shooting Scott five times from behind.
He also was indicted on counts of using a firearm in a violent crime and obstruction of justice. He’s accused of misleading state investigators by saying he fired as Scott came at him with his own Taser; a video showed Scott running away.
The officer is white and Scott was black, but race is not alleged to have played a role.
The new charges could serve as a backstop if the state’s case were to fail. Putting him on trial in both state and federal courts for the same shooting would not be double jeopardy because the jurisdictions are considered sovereign. The cases likely will proceed simultaneously.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who is leading the state’s prosecution, said she had worked with federal authorities and agreed with their involvement.
A conviction on the civil rights charge, the most serious count Slager faces, carries up to life imprisonment but no minimum punishment. The death penalty is sought only with aggravating circumstances that do not exist in this case, the federal prosecutor said. The firearms charge could bring at least 10 years behind bars.
PDF Federal indictment of Slager