COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The foreman of the jury that couldn’t reach a verdict in the murder trial of a former South Carolina police officer says he initially wanted to convict Michael Slager of murder.
But after reviewing evidence, Dorsey Montgomery said Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show he thought Slager was guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Walter Scott.
Jurors deliberated more than 22 hours over four days before a mistrial was declared Monday. The white former officer was charged with shooting Scott, who was black, five times as he fled a traffic stop in April 2015.
At one point, a juror told the judge he couldn’t “in good conscience” convict Slager. Montgomery says that doesn’t mean the other 11 jurors thought the officer was guilty. He says five of them weren’t decided.
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This story corrects that Slager faced a possible conviction for voluntary manslaughter, not involuntary manslaughter.
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