Slager’s 20-year sentence was one of the longest in recent memory for a police officer for an on-duty killing. Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for shooting Scott, who was not armed, in the back five times on April 4, 2015.
By The Associated Press. COLUMBIA, S.C. — A judge upheld a 20-year prison sentence on Monday for former police officer Michael Slager in the killing of Walter Scott, a Black man who ran from a traffic stop in South Carolina, rejecting Slager’s claims his lawyer did a poor job. Slager had appealed his sentence, saying his lawyer never told him about ...
Savage took it to believe Norton was going to rule it was a manslaughter case where the upper end of the sentencing guidelines were eight years in prison, nearly four years less than the lower end of the prosecution’s offer. He recommended Slager plead guilty without the deal. Savage never asked Norton for clarity.
Savage said in court papers as part of Slager’s appeal that he did not tell the ex-officer about the potential plea deal offered eight months before because of a conversation he had with Norton during a private meeting about public funding for Slager’s defense where the judge said this “is not a murder case.”.
Authorities said their investigation found Scott got back up and was shot from a distance of about 15 feet as he ran from the officer.
Slager had pulled over the 50-year-old Black motorist for a broken brake light when their confrontation was captured on a bystander’s cellphone video that later spread worldwide on social media.
Savage is one of South Carolina's most accomplished attorneys and at the time he was also representing a Black church member whose life was spared in a racist massacre that killed nine people in a Charleston church in 2015, two months after Slager's arrest.
Slager's sentence is one of the longest given for an on-duty shooting in recent years. Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge in 2017 for shooting Walter Scott in the back five times on April 4, 2015.
In court papers in Slager's appeal, Norton said he was discussing Slager's state trial on murder charges which had already taken place and ended in a mistrial. Slager said he first heard about the prosecution's plea deal when Savage visited him in the federal prison in Colorado where he is serving his sentence.
Former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is requesting a new sentence in federal court this week, saying he would have taken the deal and that his lawyer was grossly incompetent for not telling him about it.
Andy Savage is one of South Carolina's most accomplished attorneys and at the time was also representing a Black church member whose life was spared in a racist massacre that killed nine people in a Charleston church in 2015, two months after Slager’s arrest.
Slager’s 20-year sentence was one of the longest in recent memory for a police officer for an on-duty killing. Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for shooting Scott in the back five times on April 4, 2015.
Slager’s new lawyers didn’t question his guilt, just a sentence that according to federal prison records will keep him behind bars until 2033. While Slager pleaded guilty to a civil rights offense, the length of his sentence depended on how federal judge David Norton interpreted the shooting.
Savage took it to believe Norton was going to rule it was a manslaughter case where the upper end of the sentencing guidelines were eight years in prison, nearly four years less than the lower end of the prosecution’s offer. He recommended Slager plead guilty without the deal. Savage never asked Norton for clarity.
Savage said in court papers as part of Slager’s appeal that he did not tell the ex-officer about the potential plea deal offered eight months before because of a conversation he had with Norton during a private meeting about public funding for Slager’s defense where the judge said this “is not a murder case.”.
Authorities said their investigation found Scott got back up and was shot from a distance of about 15 feet (5 meters) as he ran from the officer.
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A judge upheld a 20-year prison sentence on Monday for former police officer Michael Slager in the killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed Black man who ran from a traffic stop in South Carolina, rejecting Slager's claims his lawyer did a poor job. Slager had appealed his sentence, saying his lawyer never told him about ...
But federal Judge Richard Gergel wrote in his ruling Monday that he believed Slager's lawyer Andy Savage, who said in 2017 court papers that he told his client about every plea offer. Slager testified during a hearing last week he didn't know about the initial deal from prosecutors.
Atkinson was charged last year with sending a graphic threat to lawyer Mark Zaid, who was representing a CIA analyst who had made allegations that fueled the inquiry that led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
The attorney called Atkinson’s arrest “a blessing in disguise.”. Neville asked that Atkinson be sentenced to 12 months in prison, with six months of that time in home confinement, but the judge sided with prosecutors who sought a 12-month prison term.
During the brief sentencing hearing in Bay City , Mich., Ludington said he was impressed with changes Atkinson has made in his life in the past year or so, but the “stark and brutal” nature of the message he sent Zaid could not be ignored.