Michael Slager's lawyers seek dismissal of federal civil rights charges

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Lawyers for Michael Slager, the former South Carolina police officer who was videotaped fatally shooting an unarmed black man after a routine traffic stop in 2015, have requested that federal charges against their client be dropped because the timing of the case would impose an unjust burden.

Mr Slager’s lawyers argued that the federal civil rights case would overlap with a state murder trial stemming from the same incident and it would be “crushingly, unfair” and “highly prejudicial” to force him to defend against both charges at the same time.

The request comes months ahead of the scheduled start for the federal trial, which is set to begin jury selection in May. Mr Slager is also scheduled to face state murder charges in August after an initial trial resulted in a hung jury last year. If convicted of murder, Mr Slager faces a sentence of 30 years to life without parole, the Associated Press said.

The former officer was fired from his post with the Charleston Police Department after cellphone footage released online by a bystander showed the 35-year-old shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran some 17 feet in the opposite direction.

In the graphic video, which went viral online and sparked national outrage, Mr Slager was seen shooting Mr Scott five times. The footage contradicted the original statements made by the officer, who originally justified the use of lethal force by saying that Mr Scott had grabbed his Taser and ran toward him during the traffic stop.

The administration of President Donald Trump indicated last month that it might consider dropping the federal charges against Mr Slager.

The video of the shooting added to a series of similar clips released in recent years that have shown unarmed black men getting killed by white police officers across the country and have sparked a national conversation over police brutality. That attention has led to several Justice Department investigations into police brutality in cities like Chicago and Baltimore.