DAVID GREENE, HOST:
The video was shocking, and it quickly went viral - a white police officer shooting a black man in the back several times as he ran away. That video was at the heart of a murder case against Officer Michael Slager, a former patrolman from North Charleston, S.C. On Friday, 11 of 12 jurors signaled they were ready to return a guilty verdict. Yesterday, though, the case ended in a mistrial. South Carolina Public Radio's Alexandra Olgin reports.
ALEXANDRA OLGIN, BYLINE: After a five-week trial and four days of deliberations, Judge Clifton Newman informed the courtroom that the jury was deadlocked.
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CLIFTON NEWMAN: I have received a note that says, (reading) we, as the jury, regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all members, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.
OLGIN: Then, the judge declared a mistrial, and the lead prosecutor choked up as she addressed the jury. She asked the 12-member panel to give her feedback for when she retries the case. Defense attorney Andy Savage had a different tone. He told jurors they helped preserve the rule of law. During deliberations, they seemed to struggle with the legal differences between fear and passion and murder and manslaughter. Ultimately, the jury couldn't decide. Outside the courthouse, James Johnson with the civil rights organization National Action Network said it's another instance of a police officer using deadly force and not being convicted.
JAMES JOHNSON: When we look across the country for somebody shooting - a policeman shooting a black man, we don't seek conviction, so nobody is surprised across America that it ended up this way.
OLGIN: The Scott family says this is a setback, but its fight for justice is not over. Slager faces federal charges for a civil rights violation, and the state plans to try him again. Anthony Scott, Walter's brother, says the jury had all the evidence to convict.
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ANTHONY SCOTT: I think they had everything they needed. All they had to do is make a decision. And like the lawyer said, they had a problem with interpretation of the law. I think that's what it was because all of us know that was murder.
OLGIN: The family called for peaceful protests. The governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, said afterwards, justice is not always immediate, but people must have faith that it will be served. For NPR News, I'm Alexandra Olgin in Charleston, S.C. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.