CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The latest on the trial of Michael Slager, the white former South Carolina police officer charged in the shooting death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black motorist (all times local):
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12:50 p.m.
The mayor of Charleston is urging residents to remain calm as two high profile court cases with racial overtones go to trial.
Jury selection began Monday for former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager’s trial in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist. Next week, jury selection resumes for Dylann Roof’s federal death penalty trial. He is accused of shooting nine black parishioners at a Charleston church.
Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference Monday that both trials present a challenge. But he also says it’s also an opportunity for the city to repeat its earlier example of showing that love can conquer hate.
The Charleston area remained calm last year after both shootings, in contrast to cities that were rocked by violence after deadly confrontations between black citizens and white police officers.
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9:15 a.m.
Potential jurors are arriving at the courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina, to hear the case of a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist.
Court officials said that 188 potential jurors were scheduled to report Monday morning for a juror roll call with questioning of individual jurors expected to begin Monday afternoon. Officials anticipate that it will take at least two days to seat a jury to hear the case of 34-year-old Michael Slager.
He faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott last year. Scott was shot in the back in April 2015 as he ran from a traffic stop. The shooting was captured in a dramatic cellphone video taken by a bystander.
The defense says the short video clip seen worldwide doesn’t tell the whole story and that there was a struggle between the two men before the shooting.
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4:40 a.m.
The trial is starting for a former South Carolina police officer captured on video shooting an unarmed black motorist.
Potential jurors report Monday in Charleston as jury selection gets underway in the trial of 34-year-old Michael Slager.
The nation was stunned by cellphone video recorded by a bystander showing Slager shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran from a traffic stop in April 2015. The jury will have to decide if the shooting is murder. If convicted Slager, faces 30 years to life.
Jury selection is also being held this week in a similar case in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ray Tensing is charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter in the July 2015 shooting of Sam DuBose, who was pulled over for a missing license plate.
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