You keep highlighting in the line of duty like it should absolve Slager.

Intent is not hard to prove. Scott was running away, Slager raised his gun and shot Scott. Slager's clear intent was to shoot Scott.

Absent legal justification for the shooting, that's murder.

MOIDER 1

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 1:01:00 PM (view original):
You keep highlighting in the line of duty like it should absolve Slager.

Intent is not hard to prove. Scott was running away, Slager raised his gun and shot Scott. Slager's clear intent was to shoot Scott.

Absent legal justification for the shooting, that's murder.

If intent was so easy to prove more than 12% of cops brought up on murder charges would be convicted.

If intent was so easy to prove Wilson would be in jail.... As would the cop that strangled Garner or shot Hamilton.

Jeez.   Yes, an officer, in the line of duty, raised his weapon and shot a fleeing criminal.     That hardly makes it murder. 

Posted by moy23 on 4/14/2015 2:12:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 1:01:00 PM (view original):
You keep highlighting in the line of duty like it should absolve Slager.

Intent is not hard to prove. Scott was running away, Slager raised his gun and shot Scott. Slager's clear intent was to shoot Scott.

Absent legal justification for the shooting, that's murder.

If intent was so easy to prove more than 12% of cops brought up on murder charges would be convicted.

If intent was so easy to prove Wilson would be in jail.... As would the cop that strangled Garner or shot Hamilton.

Most police shootings are legal. The ones where things aren't cut and dry and still usually close enough to give the cop the benefit of the doubt.

This shooting, on the other hand, is pretty clear. Once the struggle ended and Scott was running away, he was no longer a threat. 

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 2:19:00 PM (view original):

Posted by moy23 on 4/14/2015 2:12:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 1:01:00 PM (view original):
You keep highlighting in the line of duty like it should absolve Slager.

Intent is not hard to prove. Scott was running away, Slager raised his gun and shot Scott. Slager's clear intent was to shoot Scott.

Absent legal justification for the shooting, that's murder.

If intent was so easy to prove more than 12% of cops brought up on murder charges would be convicted.

If intent was so easy to prove Wilson would be in jail.... As would the cop that strangled Garner or shot Hamilton.

Most police shootings are legal. The ones where things aren't cut and dry and still usually close enough to give the cop the benefit of the doubt.

This shooting, on the other hand, is pretty clear. Once the struggle ended and Scott was running away, he was no longer a threat. 

Thus manslaughter, not murder. Find me one case where an on-duty cop was convicted for murder when he shot a fleeing suspect.

I'll give you a head start - you can cross these off your list because none of these cops were convicted of murder, many were however convicted or charged with manslaughter.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30339943

You can cross these off as well...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_police_officers_convicted_of_murder

Thus manslaughter, not murder

Why not murder? This case meets the requirements for murder.

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 2:33:00 PM (view original):

Thus manslaughter, not murder

Why not murder? This case meets the requirements for murder.

It does and they can certainly charge him with murder.... Its just not as iron clad as you think. I can not find one single case of an on-duty officer getting convicted of murder. That should tell you something right there. If they want to get this guy in jail then manslaughter is how they will need to do it. Mike and I have stated why ad nauseum.

Posted by moy23 on 4/14/2015 2:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 2:33:00 PM (view original):

Thus manslaughter, not murder

Why not murder? This case meets the requirements for murder.

It does and they can certainly charge him with murder.... Its just not as iron clad as you think. I can not find one single case of an on-duty officer getting convicted of murder. That should tell you something right there. If they want to get this guy in jail then manslaughter is how they will need to do it. Mike and I have stated why ad nauseum.

There also isn't another case with this kind of video evidence. They charged him with murder. It's the right call.

Here is the murder definition in SC:

SECTION 16-3-10. "Murder" defined.

"Murder" is the killing of any person with malice aforethought, either express or implied.



Here is the legal definition of malice aforethought:

Malice aforethought is the the deliberate intent to cause death or great bodily harm to another person before a person commits the crime. Malice aforethought is an element that must be proved in the crime of first degree murder. This description of the perpetrator's state of mind basically means that he or she had an intent to inflict injury without legal justification or excuse (legal justification included such defenses as self-defense, while excuse includes mental illness and duress).



Slager pointed his gun and shot at Scott. Intent is evident. The only question is whether or not there is a legal justification for the shooting. Most police shootings are legally justified and only require that the threat posed to the officer be "objectively reasonable."

Based on the video in this case, there is no "objectively reasonable" threat to Slager. And there isn't probable cause to assume that Scott posed a threat to anyone else.

It's murder.

Posted by moy23 on 4/14/2015 2:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 2:33:00 PM (view original):

Thus manslaughter, not murder

Why not murder? This case meets the requirements for murder.

It does and they can certainly charge him with murder.... Its just not as iron clad as you think. I can not find one single case of an on-duty officer getting convicted of murder. That should tell you something right there. If they want to get this guy in jail then manslaughter is how they will need to do it. Mike and I have stated why ad nauseum.

I'm assuming the DA went for the home run with the murder charge expecting he can pull the single(manslaughter) out in plea bargain if it doesn't look 100% either way.    In all likelihood, this doesn't go to trial for several months if not a year.    So, if neither of them are sure, Slager would probably take MS with a short sentence because most of it would have already been served.

Posted by MikeT23 on 4/14/2015 3:09:00 PM (view original):

Posted by moy23 on 4/14/2015 2:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/14/2015 2:33:00 PM (view original):

Thus manslaughter, not murder

Why not murder? This case meets the requirements for murder.

It does and they can certainly charge him with murder.... Its just not as iron clad as you think. I can not find one single case of an on-duty officer getting convicted of murder. That should tell you something right there. If they want to get this guy in jail then manslaughter is how they will need to do it. Mike and I have stated why ad nauseum.

I'm assuming the DA went for the home run with the murder charge expecting he can pull the single(manslaughter) out in plea bargain if it doesn't look 100% either way.    In all likelihood, this doesn't go to trial for several months if not a year.    So, if neither of them are sure, Slager would probably take MS with a short sentence because most of it would have already been served.

I'm in agreement.

I'd say it seems odd that BL can't see the other side of the story but that's sort of his M.O.     I think a murder conviction is possible but not likely.   IMO, a lot will depend on the "chase", the struggle and what Slager knew about Scott when he ran the first time.    The "chase" was less than 100 yards.   I imagine the entire incident was less than 30 seconds.    If Slager didn't say "I'm gonna shoot this ******" when he jumped out of the car, it's mostly just reaction to the situation.

"Reaction to the situation" doesn't preclude murder.

MOIDER 1