DEADLOCK

Michael Slager Jury Can’t Decide

Eleven vote to convict, one holds out.

CHARLESTON — The jury deciding the fate of a white police officer who killed an unarmed black man in the back in South Carolina is deadlocked. A judge called recess in the trial on Friday evening in the case of Michael Slager, who fatally shot Walter Scott last April in North Charleston. Eleven jurors have voted to convict Slager of either manslaughter or murder, but one juror is holding out. The jury foreman said further explination of the law may convert the lone hold out, but the lone juror wrote the judge a long note saying he or she can't be convinced to convict. Slager's defense is moving for a mistrial, saying the deadlock is apparent and it is improper to coerce a lone witness. The foreman later told the judge that the jury wants to continue deliberating.

Slager was caught on camera shooting at Scott, 50, in the back while he ran from the officer following a traffic stop last year in North Charleston. Last June, Slager was charged with murder, and separate state and federal agencies, including the FBI and the Justice Department’s civil rights division, are conducting their own investigations into the killing.

— Jason Ryan