Judge to decide whether to delay officer's new murder trial
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In a Nov. 29, 2016 file photo, former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager testifies during his murder trial at the Charleston County court in Charleston, S.C. A judge on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017, is asking lawyers defending Slager awaiting a retrial on a murder charge in a traffic stop shooting to talk to prosecutors about when to start his next trial. Slager’s attorneys want to delay the scheduled March 1 retrial. Media outlets report that Circuit Judge Clifton Newman will decide Tuesday whether to grant that request. Slager is charged with murder in the shooting death last year of Walter Scott. (Grace Beahm/Post and Courier via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)
A judge is asking defense lawyers to talk to prosecutors about when to start a retrial for a South Carolina police officer on a murder charge in a traffic stop shooting.
Michael Slager's attorneys want to delay the scheduled March 1 retrial. Media outlets report that Circuit Judge Clifton Newman will decide Tuesday whether to grant their request.
Slager's lawyers say at least seven of their experts have conflicts with an early March trial and some of the nearly two dozen older murder cases in Charleston County should be tried first.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Newman said at a Monday hearing there probably will never be a convenient time for a trial that could involve more than 50 witnesses.
At Slager's first trial last year, jurors couldn't agree on a verdict.