The Latest: Expert: Slager used Taser 14 times in 5 years

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Latest on the trial of a former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting of an unarmed black motorist (all times local):

5:55 p.m.

A defence witness has testified that Michael Slager used a Taser 14 times during his five years as a patrolman in South Carolina and in each case force was used appropriately. Darren Porcher, a criminal justice professor from Pace University in New York City who is a former New York police officer, testified at Slager’s murder trial.

Slager, who is white, faces 30 years to life if convicted in the April, 2015 shooting of Walter Scott as the 50-year-old unarmed black motorist fled from a traffic stop. The shooting was captured on cellphone video that stunned the nation.

Porcher, the final witness of the day, also testified Tuesday that Slager using his Taser on Scott as he ran was appropriate.

Porcher said that in reviewing police records he did not find an instance in the past where Slager’s use of a Taser was inappropriate. Porcher added that, in some instances, he himself might have used more force than Slager if he found himself in a similar situation.

The defence in the case contends that Slager and Scott wrestled over the officer’s Taser and Slager was stunned by his own weapon.

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4:15 p.m.

A North Charleston police chief is on the stand in the murder trial of one of his former patrolmen charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist in South Carolina.

Chief Eddie Driggers was called by the defence in the trial of Michael Slager who is charged in the April 2015 shooting death of 50 year-old Walter Scott. The motorist was shot five times in the back as he fled from a traffic stop. The shooting was captured by a bystander on cellphone video that stunned the nation.

Driggers testified that he is not aware of Slager ever being reprimanded by the department for misuse of force, misuse of his stun gun or misuse of his service revolver.

The defence in the case contends that Slager and Scott wrestled on the ground and Scott stunned Slager with the officer’s Taser.

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12:50 p.m.

Michael Slager’s former police supervisor has testified that Slager was “a very good officer” and that he could recall getting only one complaint about him.

The defence in Slager’s South Carolina murder trial called North Charleston police Sgt. Ronald Webb to the stand on Tuesday. Slager, who is white, is charged in the April 2015 shooting death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black motorist who fled from a traffic stop.

Webb said he was Slager’s supervisor for six months before the shooting.

He testified that Slager got “a pretty good appraisal” about four months before the incident and that Slager did what was required for a North Charleston officer. Webb said he didn’t recall Slager ever missing any training or being late for duty.

He said once he was called to a traffic stop Slager had made and the motorist was so irate he was pulled over that it took three officers to calm him down. He did not give any more details about that traffic stop.

Slager was fired after cellphone video of the Scott shooting taken by a passerby was released and he was charged with murder.

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11:20 a.m.

A witness has testified that autopsy photos showed Walter Scott’s body showed signs of a struggle shortly before he was shot in the back and killed fleeing a traffic stop in South Carolina last year.

Former North Charleston patrolman Michael Slager is on trial for murder in the death of the 50-year-old Scott in a shooting captured on dramatic cellphone video that shocked the nation.

The defence on Tuesday called Dr. Thomas Owens, the chief medical examiner in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, who testified that abrasions and bruises on Scott’s hands, wrists, face and head were consistent with having been in a struggle. The jury was shown autopsy photos showing the injuries.

The defence has been building a case that Slager and Scott struggled over the officer’s stun gun in the seconds before the shooting and that Slager was stunned by his own weapon.

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9:55 a.m.

A defence witness in the Michael Slager murder trial has testified that yellow paint found on the former South Carolina patrolman’s Taser matches paint from an asphalt path through a vacant lot where a black motorist was shot.

Slager faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted in the April 2015 shooting death of Walter Scott as Scott fled a traffic stop.

William Schneck, a trace evidence expert, also testified on Tuesday that yellow paint was found on a cellphone that Scott was carrying. He said that also matched paint from the path which has been referred to in the trial as the yellow brick road.

The defence has been laying out a case that the two men wrestled for control of the Taser and that Slager was stunned by his own weapon in the seconds before the shooting.

Scott was shot five times in the back in a shooting captured on cellphone video that stunned the nation.

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4:15 a.m.

Defence attorneys plan to call the officer who was Michael Slager’s immediate supervisor on the day last year when the South Carolina patrolman shot and killed an unarmed black motorist.

Slager, who is white and was fired from the North Charleston Police Department, faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the death of Walter Scott, who was shot while running from a traffic stop.

The defence continues its case Tuesday and plans to call North Charleston police Sgt. Ronald Webb. In pretrial hearings, defence attorney Andy Savage has raised the issue that North Charleston officers had monthly quotas to stop a certain amount of pedestrians and motorists.

The Scott shooting was captured on cellphone video that shocked the nation.

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This story has been corrected to reflect in the first item that supervisor recalled one complaint.

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This story has been corrected to … Corrects in first item that supervisor recalls only one complaint. Links AP Photos.