South Carolina

The Latest: Bystander who took video of shooting called

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Feiden Santana, who made the cell video showing former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager's fatal encounter with Walter Scott, testifies in Slager's murder trial, Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, in Charleston, S.C. Slager is on trial facing a murder charge in the shooting death of Walter Scott, who was gunned down after he fled from a traffic stop. (Grace Beahm/Post and Courier via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, left, speaks with Feiden Santana, who made the cell video showing former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager's fatal encounter with Walter Scott, as Santana testifies in Slager's murder trial, Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, in Charleston, S.C. Slager is on trial facing a murder charge in the shooting death of Walter Scott, who was gunned down after he fled from a traffic stop. (Grace Beahm/Post and Courier via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

The Latest on the trial of a former South Carolina police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed black man (all times local):

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9:45 a.m.

Court has resumed in Charleston, South Carolina, in the trial of a former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist.

The prosecution has called Feidin Santana, the bystander who took dramatic cellphone video of the shooting of Walter Scott by Michael Slager, who is white.

Defense attorney Andy Savage contends that allowing the jury to see the video would be prejudicial and inflammatory. He filed a motion earlier this week asking the judge to keep the video out of the trial.

The video shot by Santana shows Slager shooting eight times at Scott as Scott fled from a traffic stop in North Charleston in April 2015. The video was widely seen on the internet and stunned the nation.

Slager faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the slaying.

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3:30 a.m.

The family of a black South Carolina motorist shot and killed by a white policeman says they are not worried that the fate of the case is in the hands of a nearly all-white jury.

A jury of 11 whites and one black is hearing the murder trial of Michael Slager in Charleston.

Chris Stewart, an attorney for the family of victim Walter Scott, says it doesn't matter what race the jurors are. He says any jurors with two eyes and a brain will reach a just decision after seeing a dramatic video of Scott being shot fleeing an April 2015 traffic stop.

Scott's brother Rodney says the family is praying for justice. Testimony in Slager's trial enters a second day Friday.