The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday that they would not hear the case of Michael Slager, the white North Charleston police officer who received 20 years in prison on a plea for murdering unarmed Walter Scott during a traffic stop in 2015.
During the trial, Slager’s attorneys argued that their client shot Scott in self-defense. However, Scott was shot in the back. As a result, prosecutors ended up dropping state murder charges in exchange for Slager pleading guilty in federal court to violating Scott’s civil rights. The officer was sentenced to 20 years.
Slager’s attorneys appealed the case to the Supreme Court in April, arguing that his sentencing guidelines were for second-degree murder rather than voluntary manslaughter. However, the judges decided not to move forward with the appeal and did not provide an explanation, which they are not required to provide by law.
This is not the first time Slager has requested an appeal for his case. In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District denied an appeal to overturn Slater’s sentencing, stating that the former cop acted with malice when he shot Scott. In court documents, the judge wrote, “Defendant [Slager] cannot negate his malice through ‘sudden quarrel or heat of passion’ when he previously testified he was neither ‘provoked’ nor ‘angry.’”
Slager will remain imprisoned at Englewood Federal Correctional institution, a minimum-security facility in Littleton, Colorado.
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