The jury in the trial of Michael Slager, the police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott, says it's deadlocked after three days of deliberation, according to Reuters.
In 2015, Slager pulled Scott over in North Charleston, S.C., and the encounter ended with Slager shooting Scott as a bystander recorded the incident. Scott died from five bullet wounds to the back.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman told the jurors, after they declined to listen to audio from the cellphone video, that they needed to come to a decision.
"If you do not agree on a verdict, I must declare a mistrial," Newman said. "The same participants will come, and the same lawyers will likely ask basically the same questions and get basically the same answers, and we will go through this whole process again."
During Slager's testimony Tuesday, he told the jury that his life has been a nightmare since the shooting. Slager is facing 30 years to life on the murder charge. Newman agreed to include the option of voluntary manslaughter if the jury could not agree on the charge of murder. Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of two to 30 years behind bars.
Read more at Reuters.
[Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Judge Newman said he would grant a request from the prosecution to drop the charges to manslaughter. That was incorrect. At the prosecution's request, Newman agreed to include the option of voluntary manslaughter if the jury could not agree on the charge of murder. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.]