Patz susp is a delusional schizo: doc
A SOUTH CAROLINA judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white cop who was caught on video shooting an unarmed black motorist in the back.
The panel of one black and 11 white jurors — with one holdout — said they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict after deliberating more than 22 hours over a span of four days.
In a statement read by Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, the jurors said, “We as the jury regret to inform the court” that they were unable to come “to a unanimous decision in the case of the state versus Michael Slager.”
The former North Charleston officer fatally shot 50-year-old Walter Scott as he sprinted away.
The panel, which featured one holdout white juror, had told the judge Friday that they were deadlocked because the holdout juror was unwilling to convict Slager.
After weary jurors — following a five-week trial — returned Monday with another note, the judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
“The court therefore must declare a mistrial in this case and I so declare that is case is mistried,” Newman said after the jury returned to the room and confirmed their decision.
Outside the courthouse, Scott’s mother and brother were outraged at the outcome, but said justice will eventually be served. “I’m not sad . . . I know justice will be served,” Judy Scott said.
Asked whether he could forgive Slager, Anthony Scott said he could someday “find the peace” to forgive the ex-cop — but not before justice is served.
“He gets to spend Christmas with his family,” he said of Slager.
Slager faced life in prison on the murder charge and anywhere between two and 30 years on a manslaughter conviction.
“We will try Michael Slager again,” prosecutor Scarlett Wilson said in a statement.
Slager, 35, broke down last week when he testified he had pulled over Scott’s 1991 Mercedes-Benz for a broken taillight on April 4, 2015.
Slager said he feared for his life after a scuffle ensued, and said he shot Scott to protect himself.
But the incident drew nationwide outrage after a cell phone video showed Slager taking aim and shooting Scott in the back as he ran away. Slager was fired from the force and charged with murder days after the cell phone video was released.
“He dodged it by a hair and he’s not dodging it again,” said Chris Stewart, a lawyer for the Scott family.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said there will be “a new trial where the Scott family and all of South Carolina will hopefully receive the closure that a verdict brings.”
“Justice is not always immediate, but we must all have faith that it will be served. I certainly do,” she added.
The city of North Charleston last year reached a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott’s family.
In the wake of the shooting, the city asked the Justice Department to conduct a review of its police policies. THE MAN WHO confessed to murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 has a personality disorder that makes him susceptible to delusions, a psychiatrist testified Monday.
Dr. Michael First said he diagnosed alleged killer Pedro Hernandez with “schizotypal personality disorder” after taking into consideration Hernandez’s recurring sightings of an imaginary “lady in white” and adopting other false beliefs.
Hernandez’s lawyers say his detailed confession to the abduction and killing of Etan was also a fantasy — and one he grew to believe and would repeat several times.
“Personality disorders are very subtle,” the doctor said on direct examination by defense attorney Harvey Fishbein.
Prosecutors say Hernandez’s confession is reliable and they point to the fact that he recited some version of it to members of a church group.