The Latest: Witness: pepper spray, baton of no use in stop
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Latest on the trial of a former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting of an unarmed black motorist (all times local):
3:05 p.m.
A North Charleston police lieutenant has testified that neither a baton nor pepper spray would have been effective in trying to stop Walter Scott as he fled from a traffic stop.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Walter Humphries testified Monday at the murder trial of Michael Slager, the white former North Charleston patrolman charged in the April 2015 shooting death of Scott, who was black. Scott was shot five times in the back in a shooting captured on cellphone video that was shared on the internet and stunned the nation.
Humphries testified that because Scott was running away, a baton would not have worked because officers are taught to use a baton to hit someone's legs. He said pepper spray needs to be sprayed in someone's face.
Humphries was asked whether Slager should have just given up the chase. He testified that's always an option but that he wouldn't want an officer who just let a suspect go to be working for him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Four North Charleston officers testified at Slager's trial on Monday.
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11:45 a.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A South Carolina police officer has testified that he was involved in the police shooting of a suspect and was so stressed in the immediate aftermath couldn't remember half of what he did.
North Charleston Officer Jerry Jellico was subpoenaed by the defense in the murder trial of Michael Slager, the white former patrolman charged in the shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott as Scott fled from a traffic stop.
Jellico described a 1990 incident on nearby James Island in which he and two other officers were involved in the shooting of a suspect. He said in the aftermath he couldn't recall details of the incident including the timing of the shooting or the distances involved.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The prosecution alleges that immediately after the shooting of Scott that Slager made up a story that Scott got control of his Taser. Scott was shot five times in the back fleeing the traffic stop.
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10 a.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The firearms instructor for the North Charleston Police Department is on the stand in the trial of a white South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist.
Officer Jason Dandridge testified Monday that officers in the department must qualify in the use of their revolvers at least once a year at a local shooting range. He says officers must hit targets, shooting in rapid succession. He added there is no other mandatory training with firearms for officers.
Former North Charleston officer Michael Slager faces 30 years to life if convicted in the shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott. The victim was shot five times in the back in quick succession as he fled a traffic stop in April of 2015.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The judge in the case has not yet ruled on a defense request to have the jury visit the crime scene.
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6:30 a.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A judge is considering whether jurors will visit the spot where a white former South Carolina police officer is accused of shooting and killing an unarmed black man in North Charleston.
Testimony resumes Monday in Charleston in the murder trial of Michael Slager.
Fifty-year-old Walter Scott was shot five times while fleeing a traffic stop in in April, 2015.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The trial is expected to go to the jury by the end of the week.
The defense has asked Circuit Judge Clifton Newman to allow the jury of 11 whites and one black to visit the scene. Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson says jurors have viewed laser scans and animations of the scene so there's no need go to the location.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This story has been corrected to use the word effective instead of ineffective in lead of the 3:05 p.m. item.