Prosecutors continued called more law enforcement officers today in the murder trial of Walter Scott. Scott, a black man, was shot and killed by then North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager. The April 4, 2015 incident was captured on cell phone video. Shortly after the video surfaced, Slager was fired from the police department and charged with murder.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division crime scene agent Jamie Johnson testified about the examination of evidence. At issue is how she collected evidence from the Taser that the defense contends Slager and Scott struggled over. Deputy Chief Solicitor Bruce DuRant asked Johnson what she was trying to find on the Taser.
“Touch DNA from anyone that may have been in contact with Taser,” she said.
Johnson swabbed the Taser for DNA evidence but not for fingerprints. Johnson mentioned there is concern that a fingerprint test could damage the DNA evidence.
Defense Attorney Andy Savage continued to cast doubt on the state’s investigation. He said without testing for fingerprints there is no way to know if they could be there.
“Possibilities only turn into realities when they are examined. Is that correct?” Savage asked.
“Yes sir,” Johnson responded.
Savage said investigators hired by Slager used a Fisher Price metal detector to search the site and find two other bullets after SLED collected evidence from the scene.
A medical expert who performed the autopsy of a South Carolina motorist shot and killed by a police officer testified. Forensic Pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina Lee Marie Tormos determined his wounds were consistent with those depicted on a widely viewed cellphone video of the shooting on April 4, 2015.
Tormos said there were five gunshot wounds and a Taser barb on Scott’s body. One grazed his ear, three hit the back and side of his torso and one hit his buttocks.
“I determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the torso,” she said. “The most fatal wound was the gunshot wound to the back of the right chest… into the lung… through the heart.”
Tormos says bruises and abrasions on Scott’s hands, wrists and arms could be from a fight on asphalt. The defense argues the two men struggled on the ground for the officer’s Taser before Scott ran away and Slager shot Scott after he got control of the officer’s stun gun.
A toxicologist testified that there were traces of cocaine in Scott’s blood.