Judge sets 2017 trial for ex-officer who shot black motorist
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A federal judge has decided that the trial for a white ex-police officer in the shooting death of a black South Carolina motorist will be held early next year.
U.S. District Judge David Norton said during a brief hearing Tuesday that he will hold the trial of 33-year-old Michael Slager during a term of court beginning in January. No specific date was set.
Slager, a former North Charleston officer, faces federal civil rights charges in the April 2015 shooting of 50-year-old Walter Scott who was fleeing a traffic stop.
The incident, caught on a dramatic cellphone video, reignited the national debate over treatment of blacks by white police officers.
Separately, Slager faces a murder charge in state court. That trial is set to begin on Oct. 31.
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