# South Carolina police officer charged with murder. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087 "2015-04-08T01:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/321 "2015-04-13T20:29:41Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yes, there was. It was to say that given his history there isn’t likely to have been too much of a father there for his children to miss, and therefore concern over their loss might be somewhat misplaced. Then it’s just plain nasty speaking ill of the dead, is all. Which, I admit, is a more plausible interpretation of the comment, as it’s general practice at this point, when someone is killed by police, for others to smear the deceased. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/322 "2015-04-13T20:30:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yes, there was. It was to say that given his history there isn’t likely to have been too much of a father there for his children to miss, and therefore concern over their loss might be somewhat misplaced. Other than being behind on child support, what is the “history” that suggests “there isn’t likely to have been too much of a father there for this children to miss?” ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/323 "2015-04-13T20:39:35Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yes, there was. It was to say that given his history there isn’t likely to have been too much of a father there for his children to miss, and therefore concern over their loss might be somewhat misplaced. Ya know, my dad wasn’t much of a father either. Was in jail a few times, owed my mother years of back child support, and by some people’s definition he was a lout. Still miss him, though. And I would pretty pissed off if some asshole shot him in the back for running. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/324 "2015-04-13T20:41:30Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Other than being behind on child support, what is the “history” that suggests “there isn’t likely to have been too much of a father there for this children to miss?” I suspect the word “shiftless” might be involved. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/325 "2015-04-13T21:35:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > If I may be so bold as to offer an interjection, **Shodan’s** comments were made in answer to Scott’s children being without a dad, and in support of the observation that he wasn’t much of a father. I cannot imagine how anyone, let alone several people, might manage to interpret that to mean that **Shodan** is therefore implying that Scott deserved to die or that his death was “good riddance to bad rubbish”. I’ve been far from a perfect dad to my two kids, but I think they’d shed a tear should I be executed by a police. Can you understand that? ETA: emailing my kids To tell them I love them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/326 "2015-04-13T21:41:47Z")
Missed the edit window, but to anyone who wants to question someone’s fatherhood cred blindly: fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/327 "2015-04-14T00:11:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Missed the edit window, but to anyone who wants to question someone’s fatherhood cred blindly: fuck you. Best $400 I ever spent, to not become a parent, and so to remain a rational person. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/328 "2015-04-14T23:03:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So you won’t believe that he was kicked out of the Coast Guard for drug offenses until you see videotape? Do you believe he owed child support, or does someone need to record it on their cell phone? What has any of this got to do with you or this thread because, you give the impression of someone looking to latch onto any piece of passing information - no matter how irrelevant - to support you pre-existing prejudices. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/329 "2015-04-14T23:59:51Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > If I may be so bold as to offer an interjection, **Shodan’s** comments were made in answer to Scott’s children being without a dad, and in support of the observation that he wasn’t much of a father. I cannot imagine how anyone, let alone several people, might manage to interpret that to mean that **Shodan** is therefore implying that Scott deserved to die or that his death was “good riddance to bad rubbish”. Somehow “bold” isn’t the adjective I’d put there. Maybe the cops should be like the Comanches and adopt the kids of the people they kill. Shave their heads and dress them up in ballistic sunglasses and uniforms, and make them so happy and attached they never want to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/330 "2015-04-15T13:44:49Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > What has any of this got to do with you or this thread… Perhaps that would be clearer if you read the thread. **iiandyiii** claimed he wasn’t going to believe anything bad about this guy unless he saw it on video, which is an obviously silly standard of evidence. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/331 "2015-04-15T13:50:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Perhaps that would be clearer if you read the thread. **iiandyiii** claimed he wasn’t going to believe anything bad about this guy unless he saw it on video, which is an obviously silly standard of evidence. > > Regards, > Shodan No I didn’t. I said I wouldn’t believe _with the certainty I require to criticize and insult an unjustly killed man_ without video evidence (and might not criticize someone who was unjustly killed even with such video evidence). I’m just surprised that you find it so easy to criticize a dead man who didn’t deserve to die. It seems very, very callous to me. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/332 "2016-12-02T22:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > A lone juror said they cannot convict a white former police officer who fatally shot a black man in South Carolina, and the judge asked for clarification from the foreperson as to whether the jury is hopelessly deadlocked. > > The juror in a letter to the court said “I cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict” against Michael Slager, a former patrolman who pulled over Walter Scott in North Charleston, and ended up shooting him as a bystander recorded the incident on video. > > The jury foreperson said in a separate note to the court that it was only one juror who was “having issues,” Circuit Judge Clifton Newman said. The juror opposed to conviction said in the letter, “I cannot and will not change my mind,” Newman said. > **[Juror says he can't convict ex-cop in Walter Scott killing trial](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/jury-says-it-s-deadlocked-trial-officer-who-shot-walter-n691291)** > > The juror said in a letter "I cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict" against the white former police officer who killed a black man. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/333 "2016-12-02T23:56:55Z")
Does the judge not have the option of accepting a 11-1 majority verdict? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/334 "2016-12-03T00:17:08Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Does the judge not have the option of accepting a 11-1 majority verdict? I don’t believe so. “Twelve men, good and true”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/335 "2016-12-03T00:18:30Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Does the judge not have the option of accepting a 11-1 majority verdict? No. Verdicts in South Carolina must be unanimous. If the jury can’t reach a verdict, the judge must declare a mistrial. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/336 "2016-12-03T00:27:23Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Does the judge not have the option of accepting a 11-1 majority verdict? “Most of 'em think he is guilty, let’s go on and hang the son of a bitch”? We had a policeman tried for a similar situation in Little Rock, and they gave up after three mistrials. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/337 "2016-12-05T20:46:35Z")
Doesn’t a deadlocked jury mean a retrial is possible, though? I mean, I’ve thought about nullification before, and one thing that made me okay with it is the retrial. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/338 "2016-12-05T21:19:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No. Verdicts in South Carolina must be unanimous. If the jury can’t reach a verdict, the judge must declare a mistrial. How long do they have to keep deliberating before a mistrial can be declared? Is it a set time period, or is it based on the judge’s assessment regarding the potential of the jury to move toward unanimity? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/339 "2016-12-05T21:21:03Z")
[Mistrial declared](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_POLICE_SHOOTING_NORTH_CHARLESTON_SCOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-05-15-51-30). ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087/340 "2016-12-05T21:33:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > How long do they have to keep deliberating before a mistrial can be declared? Is it a set time period, or is it based on the judge’s assessment regarding the potential of the jury to move toward unanimity? I’m not an expert on this question, but I don’t believe there’s any rule. In my courtroom experience, the judge will carefully probe a deadlocked jury, and he or she will continue to send them back for more deliberation as long as there is any hope at all that the deadlock could break. A mistrial is truly a last resort from a judge’s perspective. Both sides and the court system itself expend a lot of time and effort (and, often, money) putting on a jury trial, and you hate to see that have to be done all over again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-carolina-police-officer-charged-with-murder/717087.md?page=18)