Michael Slager, Walter Scott's murderer, is sentenced

[raven24]

I posted this in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own. Michael Slager, the now ex-cop who murdered Walter Scott in 2015 for making him "fear for his life," has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Slager stated he feared Scott was going to taser him (they had a scuffle). Scott tried to run from Sager and after being close to 20 feet away, Slager opened fire and shot eight rounds, five of them striking Scott. Scott was pronounced dead on the scene, but before this happened, Slager dropped the taser gun next to Scott's dead body.

How can one be in fear of their life when said person is RUNNING AWAY? This verdict will not bring Walter Scott back, but I'm ecstatic to hear Michael Slager was brought to justice and given the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/us/michael-slager-sentence-walter-scott.html

 

[The Mom]

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I posted this in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own. Michael Slager, the now ex-cop who murdered Walter Scott in 2015 for making him "fear for his life," has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Slager stated he feared Scott was going to taser him (they had a scuffle). Scott tried to run from Sager and after being close to 20 feet away, Slager opened fire and shot eight rounds, five of them striking Scott. Scott was pronounced dead on the scene, but before this happened, Slager dropped the taser gun next to Scott's dead body.

How can one be in fear of their life when said person is RUNNING AWAY? This verdict will not bring Walter Scott back, but I'm ecstatic to hear Michael Slager was brought to justice and given the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/us/michael-slager-sentence-walter-scott.html

I think it was the correct verdict. I can't see a reason to defend the shooting; to me it was all about the actual charge and sentence , not whether the officer reacted improperly. IMO, he did.

 

[Laketravis]

Personally I think the sentence is rather light.

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

Personally I think the sentence is rather light.

Had he been convicted of murder, the sentence would’ve been greater.

 

[Laketravis]

Had he been convicted of murder, the sentence would’ve been greater.

Or child ****ography:

U.S. gymnastics team doctor sentenced to 60 years for child ****ography

The judge DID say he considered it a murder, not a manslaughter:

"Before Slager's sentence was handed down, the judge had to decide whether the shooting amounted to second-degree murder or manslaughter. Norton found that it was murder."

But he plea-bargained his way out of either state charge.

 

[The Mom]

Or child ****ography:

U.S. gymnastics team doctor sentenced to 60 years for child ****ography

The judge DID say he considered it a murder, not a manslaughter:

"Before Slager's sentence was handed down, the judge had to decide whether the shooting amounted to second-degree murder or manslaughter. Norton found that it was murder."

But he plea-bargained his way out of either state charge.

One incident of poor judgement/one mistake in a stressful situation (which is not an excuse) versus years of multiple incidents that negatively affected the lives of multiple minors. And sharing your perversions with others.

 

[Laketravis]

One incident of poor judgement/one mistake in a stressful situation (which is not an excuse) versus years of multiple incidents that negatively affected the lives of multiple minors. And sharing your perversions with others.

I consider both egregious.

I think it was the correct verdict. I can't see a reason to defend the shooting; to me it was all about the actual charge and sentence , not whether the officer reacted improperly. IMO, he did.

It was initially a murder charge that was plea bargained down to a much lesser offense.

I've seen first-offense DUI/DWI cases that resulted in death receive stiffer sentences.

And admittedly, some less. The disparity is .......... strange.

 

[The Mom]

I consider both egregious.



It was initially a murder charge that was plea bargained down to a much lesser offense.

They are both egregious, but one was a one time (as far as we know) horrible action without (as far as we know) any foresight, planning, etc. The other consisted of years of misbehavior, with, to coin a phrase, malice and forethought.

The doctor knew it was wrong before he did it, it was not a one time lapse in behavior, and not only did he not feel remorse, he continued with said behavior, and , IMO, would still be doing the same right now had it not been brought to light.

It's possible that the same could be said of the cop, but there isn't anything to make anyone draw that conclusion.

 

[The Mom]

They are both egregious, but one was a one time (as far as we know) horrible action without (as far as we know) any foresight, planning, etc. The other consisted of years of misbehavior, with, to coin a phrase, malice and forethought.

The doctor knew it was wrong before he did it, it was not a one time lapse in behavior, and not only did he not feel remorse, he continued with said behavior, and , IMO, would still be doing the same right now had it not been brought to light.

It's possible that the same could be said of the cop, but there isn't anything to make anyone draw that conclusion.

BTW, I consider murder to be deciding that "I'm going to kill ....."

 

[Laketravis]

They are both egregious, but one was a one time (as far as we know) horrible action without (as far as we know) any foresight, planning, etc. The other consisted of years of misbehavior, with, to coin a phrase, malice and forethought.

The doctor knew it was wrong before he did it, it was not a one time lapse in behavior, and not only did he not feel remorse, he continued with said behavior, and , IMO, would still be doing the same right now had it not been brought to light.

It's possible that the same could be said of the cop, but there isn't anything to make anyone draw that conclusion.

I'd argue that planting the stun gun only aggravated the situation and indicated lack of remorse and concern only for himself. Possibly even intent.

BTW, I consider murder to be deciding that "I'm going to kill ....."

The judge disagreed and ruled it was murder. But I understand your point it's not murder if it wasn't intended.

 

[aw14]

Very simple, good riddance to bad rubbish

 

[Laketravis]

Meanwhile, this one is acquitted:

Officer acquitted of murdering man begging for his life

 

[The Mom]

^^^^^^^^^ response to above story:

The family is going to file a civil suit, which they, IMO, should win. The officer may have been found guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter rather than Murder? Sometimes I wonder if more policemen would get convicted if this was the charge?

I watched the video, and have mixed feelings about it - it's easy to say the officer should not have fired - after the fact, when no weapon was found on the suspect. But it did appear that he was reaching into his waistband, a common place to carry a handgun. The fact that a call was received about someone pointing a rifle out of a hotel window - in light of Las Vegas - increased the intensity of the response.

The fact that he was crying and begging for his life probably affects me differently than most of you. I worked the night shift, and once responded to a patient who was crying and begging me to "fix" his IV. I bent over to look at it, and he sucker punched me. Fortunately, I caught the movement of his fist from the corner of my eye, so was able to step back in time to avoid a direct hit. I was able to call for help and restrain him before he could do further harm to me.

My patient did not have a history of mental illness, and we (medical and nursing personnel) assumed that he was suffering from some sort of transient condition caused by meds, hypoxia, etc - unlike some of the known patients who I would have approached with more caution. Or if I had been on a Psych unit - this was a surgical unit.