Story highlights
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in trial of former police officer Michael Slager
He's accused in the 2015 killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina
CNN
—
It took seconds for Michael Slager to fire the shots that ended Walter Scott’s life in a field behind a pawn shop in North Charleston, South Carolina.
It took days for video of the shooting to emerge, drawing national attention to the case.
And it has taken more than 18 months for the ex-police officer’s trial on a murder charge to start.
With jury selection scheduled to begin Monday, here’s a quick refresher on the case:
Slager killed Scott after pulling him over for a broken brake light on April 4, 2015. But it wasn’t until days later that the public learned about the case when The New York Times published footage of the shooting.
03:04 - Source: Walter Scott Family
Video shows cop shoot unarmed man in the back (2015)
The cell phone video, recorded by a bystander, shows Scott running away, his back turned. The officer raises his gun and fires eight times. Scott falls to the ground. Motionless and face down in the grass, the officer handcuffs him as someone yells, “Put your hands behind your back!”
The graphic video sparked outrage and reignited a national conversation about race and policing. Scott was black; Slager is white.
For weeks after the shooting, mourners stopped by the empty lot where it happened to pay their respects.
Activists in the community said it wasn’t the first time they’d spoken out about police brutality. But the cell phone video, they said, was a game changer that forced authorities to acknowledge their concerns.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
Joe Gilliard looks over a fence April 9, 2015, at the spot where Walter Scott was shot and killed by a police officer April 4 in North Charleston, South Carolina. The officer,
Michael Slager, has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of
Scott, an unarmed 50-year-old. Video captured by a bystander showed Slager shooting Scott as he ran away.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
Chasyn Carter, right, embraces Candice Ancrum during a candlelight vigil outside North Charleston's City Hall on Wednesday, April 8.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
Chuck Burton/AP
Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon holds a candle as he joins the City Hall protest on April 8.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
Alex Holt/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Darrell Mikell, Aaron Moses, Justin Lewis and Quin Dalton stand April 8 near the site where Scott was shot and killed. The person in the background is unidentified.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
Chuck Burton/AP
Protesters interrupt a press conference with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey on April 8.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
Chuck Burton/AP
People protest Scott's shooting as they rally outside North Charleston's City Hall on April 8.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
Richard Ellis/Getty Images
Some of those rallying outside North Charleston's City Hall held signs and wore shirts that said "Black lives matter." Scott was black. Slager is white.
Photos: Reactions to Walter Scott shooting
PHOTO:
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Scott's cousin Barbara, right, and her mother, Evaliana Smalls, lay flowers at the lot where the shooting took place.
Slager was arrested after the shooting. A grand jury indicted him on a murder charge in June 2015. The former officer has pleaded not guilty. If he’s convicted, he could face 30 years to life in prison.
Charleston County Sheriff
Michael Slager has been under house arrest since his release from jail on bond in January.
He was released from jail on bond in January and placed on house arrest.
City officials swiftly announced that Slager had been fired.
“I have watched the video, and I was sickened by what I saw,” North Charleston police Chief Eddie Driggers said at the time.
02:44 - Source: CNN
Police chief: Shooting video 'sickened' me
Slager’s defense has said he’s eager for the trial to get started so he can tell his side of the story – but the lawyers don’t want him to do it in the county where the shooting happened.
The former officer’s defense team argues that there’s a “toxic stew of half-truths, misperceptions and false narratives” surrounding the case in North Charleston, where city officials settled a civil suit with Scott’s family for $6.5 million and where the video has been widely seen.
But so far, the trial is staying put. It’s set to take place in a county courthouse in the neighboring city of Charleston.
The video is far from the only evidence in the case, but there’s no doubt it will play a major role in the trial.
The defense argues it doesn’t clearly depict the lead-up to the shooting – key moments that they say show Slager was acting in self-defense after Scott tried to grab his Taser. Slager used his Taser on Scott, then the two got into a scuffle, they contend. “The video of the fight is blurry and indistinct, while the video of the shooting itself is clear. As a result, the video is rarely if ever, shown in its entirety,” the defense said in a recent motion obtained by CNN affiliate WCSC-TV in Charleston.
Solicitor Scarlett Wilson has argued it’s not just what the video shows of the shooting that’s troubling. She says it also shows that Slager – a veteran emergency medical technician officer – “put handcuffs on a dying or dead Walter Scott” rather than trying to render aid.
Attorneys for Scott’s family have argued the video shows Slager trying to plant evidence at the scene, moving a Taser closer to Scott’s body.
02:22 - Source: CNN
Did officer plant evidence in Walter Scott shooting?
Accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof is set to go on trial November 7 at the federal courthouse across the street.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images
In this image from the video uplink from the detention center to the courtroom, Dylann Roof appears at a bond hearing June 19, 2015, in South Carolina. Roof is charged with nine counts of murder and firearms charges in the shooting deaths at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
Chuck Burton/AP
Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old charged with murdering nine people in a church shooting on Wednesday, June 17, is escorted by police in Shelby, North Carolina, on Thursday, June 18.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
Law enforcement officers in Charleston, South Carolina, stand guard near the scene of the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
A police officer directs a police vehicle in front of the church on June 18.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
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Charleston County Sheriff
Two law enforcement officials said Roof confessed. Roof said he wanted to start a race war, one of the officials said.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
Police in Charleston close off a section of Calhoun Street early on June 18, after the shooting. The steeple of the church is visible in the background.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
Matthew Fortner/The Post And Courier via AP
Charleston police officers search for the shooting suspect outside the church on Wednesday, June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
People in Charleston pray following the shooting on June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
A woman joins a prayer circle on June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
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Wade Spees/The Post And Courier/AP
A man kneels across the street from where police gathered outside the church on June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
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Wade Spees/The Post And Courier/AP
Police gather at the scene of the shooting on June 17. The church was formed in 1816.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
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David Goldman/ap
People pray in a hotel parking lot across the street from the scene of the shooting on June 17. Every Wednesday evening, the church holds a Bible study in its basement.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
Wade Spees/The Post And Courier/AP
An armed police officer moves up Calhoun Street on June 17.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
People gather after the shooting.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
Wade Spees/The Post And Courier/AP
Police stand outside the church.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
PHOTO:
David Goldman/AP
Police close off a section of Calhoun Street near the scene of the shooting.
Photos: Charleston church shooting
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City of Charleston
Police in Charleston released this security-camera image that they say shows Roof entering the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Police told reporters this month they’re stepping up security in preparation for the high-profile cases.
“This is going to be a very delicate and important time for the city,” Charleston police Chief Greg Mullen said. “There’s going be a lot of emotion and a lot of activity around the courthouses.”
