Bail approved for ex-officer charged in shooting death

Charleston, S.C. (WOLO)- A state judge has ruled that a former North Charleston police officer accused of shooting an unarmed man can be released on bond. The footage purportedly shows Slager shoot a fleeing Scott eight times in the back.

A state judge is hearing a speedy trial request by a former SC police officer charged with killing an unarmed black motorist. Due to the order, Slager’s trial had to be set for October 31, and the judge felt that such long pre-trial confinement was punishment before he was found guilty.

Slager will remain under house arrest until his trial later this year. “I don’t think Mr. Slager had any remorse after watching that video”, he said.

Scott was black and Slager is white, and the shooting renewed tension in the coastal town over alleged excessive police use of force and systemic racism.

Michael Slager is charged in the death of Walter Scott. Monday’s ruling was a major victory for Slager, 34, who had been kept in isolation in jail for eight months. They need time to prepare, they said in asking for a November trial date for Slager. His trial was delayed because prosecutor Scarlett Wilson is also prosecuting Dylann Roof, the suspected shooter in the killings of nine black people at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston.

Slager, who was sacked from his post as a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested in April and has been in custody since.

Prosecutors opposed bail, saying Slager was a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Online records from the Charleston County jail show Michael Slager was released at 5:23 p.m. Monday, about an hour after a judge allowed him to be let out of jail on a $500,000 surety bond.

Savage also asked what would happen if Roof took a plea deal before his trial date, wondering if Slager’s trial date would move up in response to a tidy conclusion to that high profile case.

Justin Bamberg, the Scott family attorney, said both of Walter Scott’s parents were in court Monday, along with his brothers Anthony and Rodney.

“Doing anything to damage someone’s property or to hurt another innocent individual is not doing anything that will help the Scott family”, he said. It is every criminal defendant’s right to go before the judge and request bond.