Michael T. Slager Case: A Review of the Criminal Justice System

This paper reviews the Michael T. Slager case, which involved a white former South Carolina police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black motorist. The case was held in the federal court and Slager was charged with murder, illegal use of weapon, violation of civil rights, and obstruction of justice. The evidence presented included a video of the crime, and witnesses included a police officer who was present at the scene and a bystander who provided the video as evidence. The outcome of the case was a 20-year imprisonment sentence for second-degree murder, which some argue was not appropriate.

Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice
In the criminal justice systems, the courts are able to control crimes and impose penalties
to the individuals who violate the law. The systems work differently depending on the
jurisdiction that is in charge; whether the federal, state, county or city. All the jurisdictions,
however, vary in how they manage the criminal justice processes. They also have different
agencies and laws. What follows in this paper is a review of Michael T. Slager case.
Statement of the Case
Case Summary
The case of Michael T. Slager involved a white former South Carolina police officer,
Michael Slager, and a black motorist, Walter Scott. On April 4, 2015, Slager stopped Scott on
the road alleging Scott had broken car brake lights (Osunsami 2017, p.1). Scott tried running
away but Slager followed him and shot him five times on his back. It was clear, however, that
Scott was unarmed. After the shooting, Slager took his taser and planted it next to Scott claiming
that the shooting happened as a result of the struggle for his taser, which was actually a lie.
Unfortunately, an eyewitness released a video recording from a phone which proved how the
incident happened. According to the video, Slager shot Scott when Scott was trying to escape.
The video also captured another police officer who put on gloves and tried examining Scott as
Slager watched Scott die. In June 2015, Slager was charged with murder by a South Carolina
grand jury. After that in January 2016, it happened that he was lucky and got released on bond.
In the same year, he got indicted on federal charges for violation of civil rights and obstruction of
justice. In 2017, he was found guilty of the charges. In turn, he was returned to jail but the
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charges were still dropped. However, he was finally sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in
December 2017.
Level of Court
There are two main systems of the criminal justice systems – the state and the federal
systems. The state criminal justice system handles the criminal cases that happen within the
specific state boundaries (Rakoff 2017, p.430). On the other hand, the federal criminal justice
system deals with the criminal cases that happen on federal property or in more than a single
state. The case of Michael T. Slager was held in the federal court. It was assigned to the federal
court because this judicial system has powers to defend most basic rights such as the right to
speech and the equal protection. Besides, in the Michael Slager case, there was a question of
diversity of citizenship where a white police officer shot a black motorist.
Primary Characters and their Roles
Michael Slager – The individual accused of violating the civil right of Scott.
Feidin Santana – The bystander who witnessed what happened during the crime. She took a
video of the crime and provided it as evidence to the family and the media.
Clarence W. Habersham Jr. – A police officer who was with Slager at the crime scene. He was
seen in the video with gloves on, trying to assess the victim after being fatally shot by Slager.
David C. Norton – The District Judge who had the responsibility of deciding Slager’s case.
David Aylor – The original lawyer of the defendant
Charges
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Michael Slager was charged with murder, illegal use of weapon, violation of civil rights
and obstruction of justice (Osunsami 2017, p.1). The federal charges for murder, however, ended
in a mistrial as a result of a deadlock jury. The charges were, thus, dismissed and Justice David
Norton sentenced him to a 20 years’ imprisonment for second-degree murder.
Evidence Presented
Three days after the day of the shooting, a video was released showing the events of the
crime. According to the evidence, Scott was 17 feet away from Slager. He was unarmed and
running away from the officer. Slager shot him on the back five times.
Witnesses
Clarence Habersham – The police officer who was present in the crime scene. He was called to
testify about what exactly happened during the shooting of Scott.
Feidin Santana – He was called to court as a result of the video he provided as evidence.
Argument
The outcome of the case was that Judge David Norton sentenced Slager to 20 years
imprisonment as a result of committing second-degree murder (Sanburn, 2015). However, the
judgment was not appropriate because according to the evidence provided in court, the law under
UMCJ Article 118 Clause (1) or (4) shows that Slager was guilty of first-degree murder and
should have been sentenced to a life imprisonment or a death penalty.
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References
Osunsami, S 2017, ‘Officer sentenced for killing', World News With Diane Sawyer, p. 1.
Rakoff, JS 2017, 'Why Prosecutors Rule the Criminal Justice System--And What Can Be Done
About It', Northwestern University Law Review, 111, 6, pp. 1429-1436.
Sanburn, J 2015, 'What to Know About the South Carolina Cop Accused of Murdering Walter
Scott', Time.Com, p. N.PAG,
UCMJ Article 118 Clause (1) or (4)
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